Mythically Miraculous Quantic Squad
by A-Giant-Fan
Summary: Sequel to Miraculous Quantic Squad. Nothing could prepare Felix and co. for what Mythic, a team of Greek miraculous holders, has in store for them and Paris' lucky duo. A family disappearance, a vision of the future, and time travel! Sparrow, Melodie, Mercury and Kid Mime are chasing evil through history in order to save reality before a Kwami feared by Kwamis can destroy it!
1. My Big Fat Greek Website

It was a peaceful day to end off a peaceful week, not a villain or criminal to be heard from. Felix sipped on his Espresso as he leaned back in the creaky rocking chair, watching a pair of joggers take to the road. He'd chosen to wear a grey turtleneck and dark brown trousers, the most casual of clothing he owned. If not for the cool winds he may have started to sweat from the heat, but he wasn't about to get caught wearing a tee and jeans. His father would never let him live it down.

 _It's been a month since the others and I came home from out trip to Paris. Since then Adrien hadn't stopped texting me about his antics as Chat Noir, his crush on Ladybug, his feelings for other classmates, and how his days have been going…,_ he smiled, _after a year of living in this city, it's nice to be able to chat to him like this._

"Even when you're relaxing you look like you're working."

It had been so quiet he'd nearly forgotten he wasn't the only one taking a break on Benjamin's front porch, his grandparents cooking inside. Resting on the railing beside him was Lyra, her long braid falling over her violet jumper. She pat her pocket, where she secretly kept a violin bow handle so she could transform into Melodie at any time. "You're expression has officially frozen into a look of 'stern old man', Felix."

"But an attractive old man, no?"

She chuckled. " _My_ attractively stern, old man-faced workaholic."

"Dude," Victor laughed from the porch steps, "you guys suck as flirting. I had hoped that after a month of dating you two would have some sort of lovey-dovey language." He cracked his knuckles, enjoying the sun in his bright green tank and shorts. "Stern old man?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Felix placed his coffee on the table beside the chair, "care to share your experiences dating?"

"Har-har, Agreste. I don't need experience when I've got so much charm."

Benjamin walked out of the house in a dark blue tee and bleached jeans, holding a cookie in his mouth as he signed to them. _Charm as in those lucky charms you kiss before all your track meetings?_

"Nah, those are just in case some good luck decides to drop in for a hello."

 _Do the characters in your Magnum Chaser series kiss charms, too?_

" _Magnus Chase_ , Ben," he sighed as the mute sat down beside him, biting into his cookie, "gosh, so uncultured."

 _You sound like a high school girl._

"FYI, boys read books, too."

"It has been strangely quiet around her," Lyra brought the conversation back on track, "with Beast Boss and Cirque Du Freak behind bars and criminal activity at its lowest in over a year, I feel like I have too much time for music practice."

"Let's enjoy it while it lasts," Felix told her as someone came rolling towards the house from an intersection a few blocks away, "before some form of trouble shows up."

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm laaaaa _aaaaaaaaaa_ -"

 _Crash!_

"Ah, Bridgette," he crossed one leg over the other, "I see you're still practicing your rollerblading."

Ben's grandparents' garbage was spilled over the street, the trash can tipped over underneath Bridgette's legs as she hit the ground on her stomach, long pigtails coming loose. "Oooowww."

Ben and Victor came to her aid, pulling her to her feet and cleaning the garbage up as she brushed grass off her pink halter top and denim shorts. "My poor legs and arms," he could see her counting where the bruises were going to grow in, "next time I'm wearing long sleeves and pants. With padding. And pillows strapped to everything."

"With the speed you were going," Victor said as they returned to the porch, "there must be something big going on."

"You bet," she pulled her phone out as Ben undid the laces of her rollerblades, "there's finally a website up for those Greek superheroes, Mythic."

 _Mythic_ , Felix recalled what he'd heard from other classmates during summer vacation, _a team of superheroes that have recently started work in Athens, they're similar to Ladybug and Chat Noir but don't seem to be as keen in giving interviews. They keep to themselves, which is fine…but I wonder if there's more to it?_

"There's even pictures," Bridgette scrolled down an article and handed it to Felix so he and Lyra could see, "my favourite is the first one, Foinix. That means "phoenix" in Greek!"

 _What are the odds?_

An image of Foinix facing off against a trio of masked burglars was the first in a collection of gathered pictures. She was decked out in a bright, flame patterned eye mask and dark orange suit. She had gold boots and fingers and ribbons wrapped around her wrists. A pair of laces hung from her bun as a feathery winged emblem blazed onto her back.

Victor snickered. "I bet she's got a fiery temper."

 _Mm, yes, because I was missing those terrible puns._

Ben ran down the article with his finger to another hero's picture. _He's my favourite_ , he signed, _his name is Lykanth, and he's like a werewolf!_

Lykanth stood atop a bus of prisoners that had nearly escaped the reaches of the city. He wore a grey suit and eye mask with a wolf's tail and ears. His boots took a darker hue and a white crescent moon boomerang hung on an over the shoulder sash that wrapped tightly around his chest. "…Since when can a wolf use a boomerang?"

 _Who cares?_ Ben gave him a grin. _I want trading cards._

"For the love of," Felix sighed, "don't forget that we're heroes, as well-?"

 _Ding._

It was his phone, without a doubt another text from Adrien. As the others took to looking through all the photos on the Greek website he took his own phone out and looked at the message. "…!"

"Felix?" Lyra peered over at the message. "What the…is that from Adrien?"

FELIX, it read, I SHOULD BE ALONE IN THE HOUSE, BUT I HEAR SOMEONE WALKING AROUND.

 **Yay, another journey with the Quantic Squad! So yes, this is set one month after "Miraculous Quantic Squad", where Felix and Adrien know each other's identities and Lyra is dating the former. I'm also including my OC team, Mythic (more info available in "Heroes of Myth"), and some new villains that are sure to send shivers up their spines. But for now they've got one problem on their hands - what's Adrien texting Felix about?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	2. Adrien's on the Line

"No way," Victor said as Felix showed the group his brother's disturbing text, "is your mansion in Paris haunted? I bet Adrien is listening to the sounds of a ghost's moaning as it searches for an organic body to possess."

IT'S PROBABLY NATALIE, Felix texted back as Bridgette opened up another image on the Greek website on her phone, GO ASK WHAT SHE'S DOING IF YOU'RE SO WORRIED.

"We _are_ partners with alien creatures that give us superpowers," Lyra pointed out as Adrien began to reply, "so maybe ghosts aren't so hard to believe in after all."

 _The day I believe in ghosts is the day pigs fly…there'd better not be a pig Kwami that can fly._

"You know what's as scary as ghosts? Yetis," Bridgette held the phone out again so the group could see the image of another hero, "like Yeti! No matter how she fights she stays gorgeous! I wish I had hair as lush as hers. Mine's impossible to braid."

She wore a white suit and eye mask, and her braid seemed to shimmer as her chest, hands and feet fluffed up. A rope with daggers on each end hung off her hip, and in each of her hands she held a bag with a money sign on it, grabbed from the hands of thieves at one of Athens' biggest banks.

 _…I thought those money bags only existed in cartoons?_

 _Ding._

He held his phone up to read his brother's response. "…Pigs fly."

"What?"

I'VE SEARCHED THE ENTIRE HOUSE, BUT THERE'S NO ONE HERE AND I STILL HEAR FOOTSTEPS!

 _Maybe there his footsteps._

AND THEY'RE NOT MY FOOTSTEPS!

 _Darn._

Bridgette put her phone away as the Quantic slipped out through the house's window, cookie crumbs on their faces. "We're full," Whipp sighed with happiness, "your grandmother's cookies are delicious, Ben."

 _You made sure you weren't seen, right? I don't want grandma having a heart attack._

"We're as sneaky as ninjas!"

 _Ninjas don't eat oatmeal cookies._

"Hey, Felix," Cheep landed on his shoulder, "why do you look so scared?"

"I'm not scared," he countered, "Adrien is hearing sounds in the house. I'm texting him to go out and hang with Nino for a while. He's probably been working too hard and hasn't eaten enough. Such is the stress of the life of Paris' top model."

 _Where's Plagg to talk with him? Don't tell me that lazy Kwami is napping again._

"While Adrien's replying, let's head over to the book store down the road," Bridgette quickly tied her rollerblades back on, "I ordered in some novels and want to grab them before I inevitably forget."

Felix followed Lyra down to the sidewalk as Ben took Bridgette's hand. "And away we go!" She giggled as he slowly pulled her along behind him and Victor. "Wheeee!"

The Quantic dove into the deep, deep pockets in Lyra's jumper, two on each side as she took Felix's hand. "You don't actually think someone could be in your house, right?"

"Father made sure our home has the highest level of security in Paris. You would have an easier time breaking into a museum than the mansion. He's likely imagining things because he's lonely without…Nino."

"You were going to say you."

"He's been fine without me for a long time. I think he can handle one day alone in the house."

 _Ding._

He pulled his phone out again. "?!"

HELP ME

No punctuation. No emoticons. He texted back, asking for clarification as Victor out jogged the group to the book store entrance. "Maybe the next Chase book is in!"

 _Ding._

The group walked into the store, careful to keep Bridgette from tripping over anything in her blades. It was a quiet place with shelves of neatly arranged books. A hunched over old woman with pointed glasses and a floral dress sat behind the cash, placing a finger to her mouth. "Hush."

 _We didn't say anything-?_

NOT HUMAN

"This is ridiculous," he whispered as Ben and Bridgette spoke to the cashier, "I'm giving him a call."

Victor scratched his head as he and Lyra read the text. "What is talking about? Something 'not human' is in his house?"

Lyra glanced at Felix, but he shook his head. On the plane trip home he'd told Lyra about Adrien being Chat Noir and how his brother knew they were the Quantic Squad, but he had yet to explain it to Victor, Ben and Bridgette. He wanted Adrien's consent first.

 _Ding._

PLAGG ISN'T HERE

Felix typed in his brother's phone number and put it to his ear. "He's not usually so sensitive. Hope father hasn't been in one of his more strict moods lately."

"Wheeee," Bridgette rolled back over to them with a bag in her hands, "all the adventure seven hundred pages can hold."

Felix hushed her as someone finally picked up on the other end. "Adrien, is that you?"

"Thank goodness, Felix."

"Why are you whispering? You're alone in the house."

"I'm not alone, I saw someone!"

"Who?"

"…They weren't human, whoever they were," his brother's voice squeaked in fear, "I couldn't see a face."

"So they were wearing a mask."

 _People don't just wear masks into stranger's houses unless…_

"Get out and find one of your classmates. Isn't Chloe nearby?"

"Chloe?" Lyra leaned in as the group surrounded him. "You don't go asking for Chloe's help unless something's seriously wrong."

"I can't get out," Adrien took a deep breath, "they've locked me in my room, and-!" Felix heard a gasp and quick footsteps before a door slid shut. "Now I'm in the bathroom!"

"Get off the phone and call the police!"

"Hush," the cashier shushed from behind the counter, "quiet in the store."

"No time," he gasped, "they're in my room."

"Adrien-"

He heard the bathroom door slid open. "Ah," Adrien was freaking out, "n-no, don't!"

"Adrien? Adrien, answer me!"

"Stop it-"

"Adrien, you answer me right this second!"

The cashier hushed them again, and the store fell silence.

All Felix could hear was the beeping of a line gone dead.

 **It's a real mystery here with the Quantic Squad, and it looks like the beginning of a dangerous mission for Felix. What's happened to Adrien, and where was Plagg this whole time? You can probably guess by now where this story is going, location wise, which means that its back to the city of romance for our heroes!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	3. The Trip's Tripping Out!

**~THE NEXT DAY~**

 _Maybe I'm overreacting_ , Felix tried to calm himself as the Agreste private jet flew over the clouds, _maybe it's some elaborate prank he's pulling to get me to "come out of my shell" as it were. But from the way dad sounded when I told him, and how no one's seen him…I wish this thing would fly faster._

"Felix," he turned to Lyra sitting beside him, "Adrien can handle whatever's thrown at him and you know it. We'll figure this out."

It had taking some work, but in the past twenty-four hours they'd been able to contact Gabriel Agreste about the kidnapping, get the police on the case, get the Agreste jet to America and radio the airport of their arrival that morning. Convincing his father to let his friends come along had been the hardest part, but the thought of more eyes and ears made sense in the long run to both of them.

"What a view," Bridgette and Ben sat across from them, gazing out the window as Victor napped in the seat behind them, "the clouds have never looked so fluffy."

 _I'd catch them for you_ , Ben signed to her as the Quantic buzzed around, _but then I'd fall._

"Aw," she pecked his cheek, "that's so sweet…and silly."

"We're so high up," Hushh and Mello spun around in a ball dance above the seats, "we're going to be there soon, right?" The Quantic flew down and landed on Felix's knees. "We're gonna make it in time, Felix."

"Yeah, and we're going to find Adrien."

"And he's going to be fine!"

"And then we'll punch the kidnapper's lights out!"

 _I know they're trying to lift my spirits, but…,_ he could see the hope practically emanating from their large eyes, _it's just that…with everything's that going on, how can I…_

He sighed. "You're right. Thank you, all of you."

Lyra placed her head on his shoulder as the Quantic nuzzled together. "You've softened from when we first met."

"I'm assuming that's a positive progression in my personality."

"Very, though your stubbornness is something I've grown accustomed to."

Victor yawned, rubbed his eyes and stretched his legs out. "Are we there yet?"

"Another few minutes."

"Great," he hopped to his feet, "then that gives me time to ask the pilot if we can do a loop-de-loop."

"Uh, Victor-"

He ran to the cockpit door and swung it open. "Hey, can we do a….uh, guys," he turned back, face pale, "where's the pilot?"

Bridgette and Ben's eyes widened and turned to Felix. "I suppose I should have told you sooner," he said, "this jet runs on an advanced autopilot that doesn't need the input of a pilot. It maneuvers itself."

Victor wiped sweat from his head. "That was close. I was afraid it was just four up here…wait a minute! We _are_ the only ones up here! What if something happens? Oh, Zeus," he clapped his hands together, "please let us pass through your domain of the sky safely."

"You really need to expand upon the books you read."

 _Technology is great and all_ , Ben signed, _unless it's the only thing holding you thousands of feet in the air._

"We're going to be fine," Lyra stood and led the others into the cockpit, where they watched the clouds part over the window, "see? The airport's right below. We're about to land in Paris for the second time this summer vacation." She smirked. "Now I can buy that cute dress I saw before my concert."

"She's right," Bridgette pointed to the landing strip below as buildings appeared around it, "there it is…uh…um…and…there it goes," her finger drooped as the jet flew past the airport, "we're turning around, right?"

Felix gazed out the window at Paris below. "…The Eiffel Tower is coming up," he gestured to the great monument in the distance, "perhaps father set the GPS to go for a sightseeing experience before we land."

"…We're not going _around_ it," Mello gasped as the jet flew closer, "we're heading straight _for_ it! W-We're gonna crash!"

"So much for technology," Victor grabbed the wheel only to be shocked, "ouch! What's with this thing?"

"Felix," the Quantic turned to him with fear in their eyes, "your jet is kidnapping us!"

 _This doesn't make sense_ , Felix looked over the control console, _father had Paris' best technicians and inventors program the jet to follow exact orders. We should be landing at the airport, where he programmed it to…unless someone's hijacked it._

"I'm calling in," Lyra grabbed the phone and picked it up, "we need ground support to…uh," she pulled the phone out, the cord torn and frayed, "is it supposed to be like that?"

 _We've been hijacked._

The Eiffel Tower was clear out of the clouds now, glistening in the morning sunlight. "This would be more beautiful if we weren't about to die," Bridgette squeaked, "why would someone hijack the jet-?!"

The jet began to tilt upward, and with a sharp jolt it was veering towards space. The group toppled out of the cockpit, gravity throwing them to the back of the jet. "We're gonna hit the wall and splatter all over Agreste's ride!"

 _Not the biggest worry here!_

"ALL EARS!"

In a flash Ben was in costume. He held his arms out, and as the group tumbled to the back of the jet they hit something invisible but bouncy. They carefully sat up, floating a foot above the wall, the jet on its side.

 _A water bed_ , Kid Mime signed to them with a smile, _my favourite kind of bed. And trampoline._

"The jet is flying straight upwards," Cheep chirped, "So at this rate we're not going to hit the Eiffel Tower."

Something about the angle of the jet wasn't right, aside from the obvious. Felix got to his knees and saw the clouds parting from the windows in the cockpit way high up over their heads. Suddenly the plane halted in the air.

And then it began to tilt back around, slowly turning to point down to earth.

"What comes up," he grimaced, "must come down."

 **BOOM, crazy hijacking ensues for the Quantic Squad. Nothing is going to be going slow in this story, especially the danger. And remember, this is only the third chapter, which means that the craziness is only beginning. So how can Felix and the others get out of this situation? Could anybody possibly come to their rescue before the plan hits the ground?!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	4. Hoping It's a Once in a Lifetime Ride

The jet was pointing downward now, sending Felix and the others rolling back through the corridor and into the cockpit. He hit the pilot seat first, something that wasn't even needed in the jet, and bonked his head against it. "Ow-"

Lyra bashed into him. "Ow-"

Bridgette and Victor toppled into her. "Ow, ow-"

Kid Mime accidentally kneed Felix as they fell into a pile of legs and arms, the Quantic flying around overhead. " _Ow_ ," Felix winced as they separated, "this is the last time I invite you guys on a trip."

"Why is this happening?!" Bridgette crawled to the console and peered out the window. "Ahh, the Eiffel Tower!"

The jet was on a direct course of the tower. "We can't stop the ride," Victor realized, "and I don't see how we can get off before it hits!"

Kid Mime tapped Felix's shoulder and pointed at the tower. "What is it, Ben? I don't see anything…" he squinted his eyes, "wait, somebody is standing on the tip of the tower…!"

"Red and black spots," Bridgette looked ready to cry with relief, "it's Ladybug! Ladybug is here to stop the plane…somehow!"

Ladybug stood, looking up at the jet as it fell faster and faster towards the tower. Beside her was another figure, though, in an orange suit.

"...Foinix?"

 _The Greek hero? What's she doing here?_

The jet door swung open on the other end, and Felix turned to see a scaly hand clinging to the inner wall. "Kid Mime, de-transform, quick!"

As Hushh and the other Quantic phased into the pockets of Lyra's jumper, the scaly figure flew down to them – using his wings. A silvery scaled eye mask and suit covered the young black man, and from his belt popped out a long tail, a blowgun hung over top. A pair of folded dragon wings sprouted on his back, and his pupils thinned as he counted the figures. "Are you all the passengers of this ride?"

"Drako," Victor gawked, "Felix, your jet was way off! We're in Greece!"

 _Yes, known for its Eiffel Tower!_

"All aboard," Drako reached his hand out to them, "we're making an emergency landing." He took Bridgette and Lyra onto his back and Ben and Victor in each arm. "I'll be back for you," he told Felix, who stood against the pilot seat, "don't worry, Grypas has this."

 _Grypas, the fifth Mythic member._

"Wait, no," Lyra yelped as Drako flew back through the jet and out the door, "don't leave him!"

 _I'll be fine…maybe…starting to hate heights._

He watched out the cockpit windows as Drako flew towards the streets below, where crowds of Parisians were running around in terror. He could only make out two people standing perfectly still, watching the skies from near the bottom of the tower.

 _…Alya and Lila. Adrien's friends…HOW STUPID ARE THEY?!_

A flying figure swooped over in front of the jet. A beige suit covered her body with a greyish eye mask, the right side stretching up along her head like a feather. A lion's tail slipped down from her waist and her feet were a light brown shade, feathery wings folded out from under of her arms, and a small satchel on her hip. It was Grypas the griffin hero, and she was holding her arms out to the jet, falling in front of it.

 _What can she hope to do? What were her powers again-?!_

She mouthed something at the jet, and suddenly its fall slowed to a quiet descent. Felix felt heavier as Ladybug and Foinix below called out to other figures on a building behind the tower. It was Lykanth and Yeti, eyes to the jet as it came closer.

 _They need to set the jet upright._

At phenomenal speed Yeti grabbed the dagger-ended rope from her belt and spun it overtop her head like a fan, Lykanth steadying his feet about a meter out of her reach. Icy winds blasted from the rope, hitting the bottom of the jet's nose. Lykanth let out a piercing howl with sonic vibrations knocking against the belly of it.

"Unbelievable," Felix murmured as the jet tilted back into position, hovering a couple feet from the Eiffel Tower, "they stopped a hurtling jet."

Ladybug and Foinix saw him in the cockpit and gave him a thumbs up. He waved to them as Drako flew back into the jet. "Time to go, buddy," he led him to the door, "your girlfriend was about to rip out my scales."

 _Even dragons don't stand a chance against Lyra._

Drako carried him out on his back. "I've taken your friends to the airport," they glanced back at the jet, "Grypas will do the rest."

"…She's moving the jet…with her mind?"

The jet slowly turned and followed Grypas as she flew through the sky, guiding it back to the airport as people cheered below. Alya and Lila were jumping up and down as Ladybug and Foinix swung with their yo-yo and ribbons on the same course.

"I have to ask," Felix said as they neared the landing strip, "what would a team of Greek heroes be doing in Paris?"

"I'm afraid that's personal information for heroes only."

"…," Felix whispered into Drako's ear as they landed near Lyra and the others, "now will you tell me?"

Drako blinked a few times as Lyra ran over and wrapped her arms around Felix in a big hug. "Gosh," she sighed with a smile, "warn a girl before you go crashing towards large monuments on your own."

"I'll be sure to _properly_ invite you next time."

Ladybug and Foinix landed down next to them. "Felix Agreste," Ladybug greeted him, "Are you guys alright? What happened?"

"The jet was tampered with," Victor explained as Grypas flew off behind Parisian buildings, "someone wanted us to crash!"

"What's up, Drako?" Foinix waved her hand over his face. "You look like you saw a ghost."

 _I need all the help I can get._

"I have a proposition for you all," he said as everyone listened in.

"I suggest a meeting of heroes, tonight at midnight at the park with the merry-go-round. And yes," he gestured to Bridgette and the others, "that includes us. All of us. _Out_ of costume."

 **Felix is asking for a lot, but a lot is at stake with Adrien still missing and Ladybug without her Chat Noir. How will all these heroes react to sharing their identities with strangers? And why has Mythic come to Paris when their work is in Greece? Something big is on the horizon, and the jet hijacking is just the beginning of the Quantic Squad's worries...**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	5. Oh, Father

"Felix," Bridgette hissed in his ear as Ladybug and Mythic looked at each other, completely baffled by his suggestion, "what are you _doing_?! Now they know you guys are heroes, and it won't take long belong they figure out you're-"

"We're the Quantic Squad," Lyra finished her sentence, "and I second Felix's proposition. Anyone opposed?"

"Grypas, Yeti and Lykanth had to leave before they de-transformed," Foinix told the group as passengers and pedestrians start to move towards them with curiosity, "but as leader of Mythic I accept your invitation. Ladybug?"

Ladybug hadn't said anything, too bewildered to breathe, let alone speak. "You have until midnight to join us at the park," Felix led the others away as interviewers came up to the masked heroes, "but I have some business to discuss with my father."

They shimmied through the crowd and over to the jet, sitting on the landing strip on its own. "Before my father comes to check on us," he pointed to the door, "I'd like us to do some investigating of our own." They climbed up the stairs and into the jet. "Ben, grab all our belongings while we check things out."

The first place he had to look was the cockpit. He and Victor scanned the controls as Lyra and Bridgette looked for signs of an intruder. "Felix," Victor asked, "are you sure revealing all our identities tonight is such a good idea? What if someone sees us?"

"That's why I chose midnight. No one goes to that park so late because of the rumors of a ghost haunting the merry-go-round."

"And you want us to go there?!"

"More ghosts," Lyra poked Victor's neck, causing him to jump three feet in the air, "hope you don't get too scared."

"Ben has a cousin who apparently likes to study ghosts," Bridgette brought up as she peered around the chairs for footprints, "maybe you should get in contact with him."

"There isn't actually a ghost there, it's just a rumor," Felix felt the wheel, "hm, and it isn't shocking us anymore. Seems like the system's turned off…on its own."

He noticed a tiny shadow under the handles and poked it. "The light shouldn't be creating a shadow in this spot-?"

The shadow moved, sliding up the wheel – and then jumping off over his shoulder. "Hey," they watched it hit the ground, grow and slide away, "look out, Ben!"

Ben stepped back as the shadow slid under his feet and out the door. He ran after it but immediately returned, shaking his head. _It's gone_ , he signed as Bridgette helped grab luggage, _disappeared as soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs._

"Perfect," Mello and Whipp peeked out of Lyra's pockets, "so whatever hijacked the jet wasn't human. We're dealing with the supernatural."

"I wonder who that shadow belongs to?"

Before they could investigate further Ben pointed to the door. _Mr. Agreste is coming! Hide, Mello, Whipp!_

Natalie was the first one inside. "Felix," she stepped over and gave him a hug before his father could see, "I'm so glad you're safe. And your friends, of course," she stood and straightened her glasses, "no one's been hurt?"

"We're fine, thanks to Ladybug," Victor pointed to the cockpit, "but it seems someone meant for us to come down hard."

Gabriel Agreste stepped into the jet as Natalie walked to the cockpit to examine it. "Thank goodness none of you were injured," he held his hand out to Felix, "we'll be looking into this matter with the upmost severity."

Felix shook his father's hand. "I understand. I'm taking my friends to the mansion now so we can arrange ourselves."

"I'll have my private driver escort you."

"No," he said to everyone's surprise, "there are more than enough taxi's available for us to use."

"You were almost brought down upon the Eiffel Tower! I won't let you go-"

"We take a taxi and we have the advantage of surprise. They'll have a hard time tracking me if we all takes separate cars. Good day, father." With that, he and his friends grabbed their luggage and walked down the stairs and into the airport, through the still curious crowds.

"I know he can be strict," Lyra said as they took to the entrance, "but he's your father, Felix, and that was harsh."

"He'll get over it. We have more important things to deal with."

"Adrien?"

"That," he sighed, "and our midnight meeting."

* * *

 **~THAT NIGHT~**

"Felix."

He clicked his bedroom door behind him and turned to his father, who stood outside his office doors. "You're up late, father. It's almost midnight."

"I was going to tell you the same thing," Gabriel pushed his glasses up and stared his son down, the hall lit only by the light of his office, "you should be asleep."

"I'm going for a quick walk to clear my head. And you? Why are you still awake?"

"Work." Gabriel walked over to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'd rather you stayed indoors until we've found Adrien."

"I do hope his disappearance hasn't gotten in the way of your work, father."

"Felix," his father sighed, "I love you both, and I worry every minute I don't know where you are. I just want to keep you safe."

"And under your constant control. Life is full of surprises; you can't keep everything in order, no matter how much power…you have..." He looked his father over. "What sort of work requires you to stay up until midnight on a Tuesday?"

"Never mind that."

" _Father_ ," Felix had no patience that night, " _are you HawkMoth_?"

Awkward silence. The most awkward silence Felix had ever known. They stood in the dark hall, unable to speak. He couldn't explain why he'd asked such a peculiar question, but it had been nagging him since their trip last month, when he'd felt off whenever around his father. Far more off that he had when he lived at home.

His father stared at him. And then he opened his mouth to speak.

 _…What can he possibly say?_

 **Did somebody say "HawkMoth"? Felix can be blunt when he doesn't want to, and now it's gotten him into major trouble. How one earth will Gabriel react to such a question, especially coming from his own son? Things are getting more than awkward in the Agreste mansion, and without Adrien's uplifting attitude, the turn of events is unpredictable...**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	6. Names, Names Galore

"…What do you think of HawkMoth?"

Felix hadn't expected his father to ask him that, especially with the duo standing in a dark hallway close to midnight. Maybe it was because he had just asked his father if he was HawkMoth, or maybe it was because it was Tuesday.

 _What do I think of HawkMoth? What don't I think?_

"I think he's a megalomaniac who's using his power for evil, causing chaos and anarchy throughout Paris and performing criminal acts through the hypnotic control of innocent civilians against their wills."

"Does that sound like your father?"

 _It could._

"…No. I apologize for the accusation. It's been a long day. I won't be long on my walk," Felix moved away from Gabriel and to the stairs, "goodnight, father."

"…Goodnight, Felix."

As he walked down the stairs and opened the front door, the security system turned off for the time being, Cheep peered out from the collar of his turtleneck. "You don't actually think your father is HawkMoth, do you?"

"I'm not sure. I'd like to think I'm simply being paranoid…and there was that time when HawkMoth tried to attack him…but…," he sighed and took a fresh of the night air, "let's focus on getting to the others for now."

* * *

He was lucky enough to find a taxi that would take him to the park entrance so cheap, but the second he'd stepped out it zipped off down the road. "Another person who believes in ghosts," he murmured to Cheep as they entered the darkness of the park, "honestly, if they're so worried, why don't they get some exterminators?"

"Who you gonna call?"

"I don't know, an exorcist?"

He wasn't the first to the merry-go-round, barely lit by the bright lamps around it. Lyra and Victor were standing together, and sitting on one of the still horses was Benjamin and Bridgette, pretending the ride was actually going. "Wheeee!"

 _Oh, brother._

"Glad you could join us," Victor waved him over, "Larisse says the others will be here shortly, and then we can get started."

"Larisse?"

Someone tapped his shoulder. He turned to face a young girl with a high bun of bright orange hair smiling. "It's a pleasure, Felix Agreste." She stepped back, letting him take in her bright blue spaghetti strap and white coprees. "I'm Larisse Athan, aka Foinix and leader of Mythic. And this," she held her hand out, where an orange Kwami with tangerine eyes and a golden tail of feathers popped up, "is my Kwami, Sunne."

All four Quantic flew out and around Sunne. "That's odd," Hushh scratched his head, "I thought Kwami represented real animals."

"We represent creatures," she answered as someone else walked towards them from the street, "and Mythic is the only family of Kwami based on beings from mythology…though, that isn't to say phoenixes or werewolves can't be found."

"R-Really?!"

"I'd love to find a real werewolf sometime," a young black man with a curly Mohawk stepped under the light, "imagine the sort of brawl we could get into." He rolled down the sleeves of his red plaid shirt and untucked it over grey sweatpants. "Greetings, Quantic Squad. I'm Stephan Barbas, aka Drako, and soon to be Greece's greatest Rodeo Clown."

 _…Rodeo…clown…_

A small silver Kwami and yellow eyes and tiny wings floated out from his shoulder. "And I'm his partner, Gemme." He let out a tiny cough of flames. "Oops. Sorry."

Bridgette and Ben hopped off the merry-go-round as a young Asian girl in a sleeveless grey dress and long black braid strut over. "I have to know," Bridgette asked Larisse, "what's it like being able to come back to life out of ashes?"

"I'm afraid that isn't one of my abilities," she confessed, "but I can clean stuff."

"So…maid phoenix?"

The new girl giggled. "Larisse isn't the team's maid, she's the team vet."

"It's true," Larisse sighed, "I adore all species of animals and supernatural beings, like the adorable Kwami," she nuzzled her cheek against Sunne, "…oh, by the way, that's Tani Jones. Her partner is Snowyy, and she's Yeti."

 _You know_ , Ben signed as a small white and fluffy Kwami appeared on Tani's head, _I expected the yeti hero to be bigger and scarier._

"I have a big ego," she signed back, "and a scary sense of style and fashion."

 _You know sign language?_

"I taught my friends, too," she gestured to Larisse and Stephan, "it helps being as fabulous as me."

"Are we all here yet?" The group turned to see two more teens walk into the park, a beige bird and a grey, pointed ear Kwami at their sides. "Hm, I don't see a Ladybug Kwami anywhere. Should have brought my tunes."

"Finally," Stephan wrapped his arm around the shoulders of the young man with shaggy dark hair, wearing a black tank and torn denims, "where've you been, Neo?"

"Getting Luunar here a snack," he nudged the wolf Kwami, "he wouldn't stop howling, and that blonde daughter of the mayor's was too close to investigating."

The shorter girl beside him, a brunette in a long indigo sweater and black leggings, rubbed the top of the bird Kwami's head. "Don't mind my brother, Quantic Squad. He can be a bit grumpy when he doesn't get to listen to his nighttime rock. I'm Isra Leva, and this Beaak."

 _So they're Grypas and Lykanth_ , Felix counted off the heads, _which brings our group up to ten people, though Bridgette doesn't have any powers. All that leaves is Ladybug…gosh, I hope nobody suggests ice breakers while we wait._

"Hey," Bridgette clapped her hands, "why don't we have a round of ice breakers?"

 _Uuuuuggggghhhhhh-_

"As tantalizing as that sounds, Bridgette," Lyra put a hand on her shoulder, "let's just start with names." She turned to face Mythic. "I'm Lyra, and that's my Quantic, Mello. Bridgette doesn't have a Quantic, but she runs our website back home. Next to her is Benjamin and his partner Hushh; he's mute, by the way, not deaf. Then there's Victor and Whipp, and finally, Felix Agreste and Cheep."

"How exciting," Isra smiled, "but…," she slowly frowned and looked around, "we're missing someone…where's Ladybug?"

 **YES, now I finally have all the character's costume and physical designs out of the way, and we can get straight to the adventure and action. But it seems that somebody hasn't shown up to the secret midnight party meetup yet. Where could Ladybug be? Could her civilian identity perhaps be having second thought on sharing who she really is behind the mask?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	7. I mean, I'd Faint Too

The girls sat on the merry-go-round as the guys stood around it. Felix checked his phone, the time quarter past midnight. The Kwami and Quantic sat in a circle by his feet, snoring. "…"

 _I suppose we could have given her more time to think about revealing her identity to strangers, but Adrien is still missing and every second he's gone is one more second of my nerves twitching with worry…I'm turning into my father. Great._

"She may not show," Neo said as Larisse and Lyra finished exchanging contact numbers, "we should start the meeting before people get too curious and check the scene out."

"I wonder," Tani redid her braid, "maybe she thinks she's too good to show us her secret identity? I mean, I don't want to assume anything about her, but…"

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's the exact opposite," Victor replied as a cool wind flooded the park, "showing your identity to a group of strangers that already know each other's identities? I'd be surprised if she didn't run home and hide under her bed covers."

"Are you saying that'd be your first reaction?"

Isra raised her hand. "It's certainly be mine."

Finally Felix heard soft footsteps at the park entrance. The group slowly turned their attention to the dark as a young girl with dark blue pigtails entered the light of the streetlamps. He immediately recognized her big blue eyes and pink coprees. "…Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

 _The daughter of the bakers. Adrien's friend…the one who seemed to stutter whenever he was around her._

She looked from face to face before giving a tiny wave. "H-Hello."

And then she said nothing. Despite being the confident Ladybug with her mask on, Felix could feel her fear from a few feet away, standing out in the open. He glanced at Lyra, who gestured to Marinette with her head, her way of voluntelling him to welcome her.

 _Because when one think welcoming, one thinks Felix Agreste._

He walked over to Marinette, as though noticing her red earrings for the first time. How had he not connected the dots a month ago when they'd hung out together with her and Adrien's class? "It's nice of you to show up." He smiled. "And no, I'm not trying to be patronizing. We really are happy to have you here, Marinette."

"I'm sorry I'm so late," she mumbled, "but when I found out you and your friends were really the Quantic Squad, I got so nervous. I…," she glanced at the other over his shoulder, "so those are Mythic?"

Larisse hopped off the merry-go-round. "I'm Larisse. These are Neo, Isra, Stephan and Tani. The Kwami can give you your names afterwards."

"And…Chat Noir?" She looked around the park. "Where's Chat Noir? You invited him, didn't you? We could really use his help finding Adrien. Oh," her eyes widened, "I'm so sorry, Felix. I-I know we can find him!"

"…Yes, we can," he put his hands on her shoulders, "but we'll have to without Chat Noir."

"W-Why?"

 _Will he kill me when I tell her? What will happen when he eventually found out?_

"…Marinette, Adrien is Chat Noir."

She blinked a few times at him. "…"

"…Uh, Marinette? My brother is your partner."

"…What?"

"Adrien Agreste is a superhero."

"…Excuse me-"

He gave her a light but firm shake. "Adrien. Is. Chat. Noir."

"Oh," she smiled, "I thought so. I was afraid I'd heard you wrong."

And then she fainted in his arms.

"M-Marinette?!"

"What did you do to her, Felix?"

"I didn't do anything, Lyra!"

"Oh no, someone call an ambulance!"

"Yeah, Isra, cuz that wouldn't be suspicious!"

 _Dunk her head in the fountain._

"So cruel, Ben!"

A sharp whistle cut through their bickering, and everyone turned to Tani. "Honestly," she grumbled, "this meeting isn't going to be secret if we keep fighting and all the neighbours come out to investigate." She walked over to Felix, who held Marinette, and placed her hands on the girl's cheeks. Then she smacked them hard."

 _That sounded painful._

Marinette bolted up to her feet, hitting Felix in her attempt to stand and pushing him over. "What?! Where?! Who?! O-Oh," she finally noticed him giving her a look, "sorry, Felix! I didn't see you there!"

"Clearly. What's with the sudden fainting?"

"I thought you'd told me something completely unbelievable," she awkwardly laughed, "to think that you'd ever tell me that your brother Adrien was my partner, Chat Noir."

"Am I going to have to write it on your arm with permanent marker?" He stood and dusted his clothes off. "Adrien _is_ Chat Noir, and I _am_ Sparrow, and we _are_ a group of heroes out of costume trying to find him."

Her smile faded, and she looked as though she was going to faint again. "Adrien…really is Chat Noir? I…no, it can't be," she steadied herself as Bridgette and Larisse came to her side, "their polar opposites! He can't be Chat!"

"Believe me when I tell you that my brother has a certain humor about him."

 _The puns we could all do without, but he is my flesh and blood._

"While you try to sort out your feelings," Stephan gestured to the group, "shall we begin this meeting of the minds? Ah," he glanced at Benjamin, "and mime."

"Stephan's right," Lyra sat on the edge of the fountain with Tani and Neo, "we should talk business before our next taxi ride tries plummeting us into the Eiffel Tower."

"Which brings us to the topic of interest," Neo waited for any objections or fainting spells, "who – and _what_ – kidnapped one Agreste son and tried to crash the other along with his companions down to earth."

"HawkMoth," Victor suggested, "he's Paris' big baddy, right? I don't know how he figured out that you two were Sparrow and Chat Noir, but he's got something up those evil sleeves of his…if he wears sleeves. Do we even know what the guy looks like?"

"Purple," Marinette put simply, "very purple."

"No." Neo stood up and faced the group. "This isn't the work of HawkMoth – this is the work of Gigas."

 **HawkMoth or a new villain? Who's to blame for the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Agreste family, as well as the arrival of Mythic to Paris? The villains I'm using in this story are from "Heroes of Myth", but fear not, you don't have to have read that story to get what's going on here. I'll explain everything all in due time.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	8. Dreaming of the Future

_Gigas_ , Felix had heard the name before, _that's…one of Mythic's Greek enemies, who works out of Athens._

"Hold on," Bridgette said, "you mean that the guy who controls vines you're always fighting is here in Paris? How come? And why would he kidnap Adrien Agreste?"

"We'll start with the basics," Larisse took over, "there are seven member of Mythic's miraculous family: Sunne the phoenix, Luunar the werewolf, Snowyy the yeti, Drako the dragon, Beaak the griffin, Chimma the chimera and Gorry the troll. The troll and chimera miraculous were stolen by the disgraced Professor Yilmaz of Istanbul and his personal driver Peri a year before we received the others from Isra," she gestured to Isra, "or should I say Master Isra."

"Ooh, ooh," Victor raised his hand, "I so call being Master Victor of the Quantic."

"Not happening," Felix shut him down before he could get too excited, "what do you know about Gigas and his partner…Chimaira, was it?"

Isra nodded. "Gigas has the troll pendant, which gives him the power to call forth and control foliage from underground, along with enhanced strength, hearing and a staff that can glow bright enough to blind his opponents. Chimaira on the other hand has a slingshot that fires acid, a snake tail that watches her back and can bite, and is almost stronger than Gigas in terms of raw physical power."

 _Professor Yilmaz_ , Benjamin signed, _he's an archeologist, right? My grandpa was telling me how he disappeared from his university's records. So he's really the villain?_

"Afraid so," Tani sighed, "and then there's the third party member of their diabolical trio…Damma."

"Wish we could tell you more about him," Stephan shrugged, "but the dude's a complete mystery. He never fights, either, just shows up and whisks Gigas and Chimaira away before we can grab the miraculous. He's like a moving shadow, and his voice," he shivered, "it's like a pack of giant wasps clawing at a blackboard – and wasps don't have claws!"

 _So use a different analogy._

"So you're telling us that Gigas, Chimaira and Damma are here," Bridgette's eyes widened, "and for some reason they've kidnapped Adrien and tried to…to kill us? Why? What'd we ever do to them?"

"That's why this meeting is so important," Larisse put a hand on Isra's shoulder, "our master has a little confession to make."

Marinette, who had been pacing behind Felix and Bridgette the entire time, finally stopped and looked her way. Isra took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "I can see the future." When it became obvious that no one was going to say anything until she explained, she blushed. "Uh, so…yeah. I have precognitive dreams once in a while that show me things that are going to happen. They're image and sounds, really, a blur of events that I have to pick apart, but they've never been wrong before."

"Cool," Victor gave her a thumbs up, "so you had a dream about coming to Paris?"

"More than that. It was the other night when it arrived; it began with a jet falling from the sky."

 _That would be my father's private jet, then_ , Felix cocked an eyebrow, _despite my own beliefs, hearing her out about this vision of a dream would be beneficial. And at least it's stopped Marinette from pacing behind me._

"After the jet vanished, I saw the Eiffel Tower, so I knew we had to come here."

"So, one the whim of a dream you had," Victor summed up, "all five of you bought tickets to Paris?"

"Uncle Macario, Mr. Leva, already planned to send us here for a vacation while he dealt with business back home. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Anyway, after the tower I smell baked goods, and then…the skulls."

Marinette gasped. "Baked…my family's bakery! You mean, you would have eventually figured out who I was?" She slumped her shoulders. "I suppose it was only a matter of time. I'm terrible at keeping secrets; how could I compete with a vision?"

 _…Should I…pat her on the head, or something?_

"Uh, people?" Stephan nudged Isra. "Skulls. Pretty sure _skulls_ are more interesting than baked goods…though I'm always willing to try fresh, out of the oven cookies. Just saying."

"They're not the skulls of anyone we know," Isra assured the group as they began to grow nervous, "I'm talking about the Catacombs of Paris. You know, where all the skulls are aligned on the walls and whatnot. I think we have to go there for answers next."

"We'll find Adrien," Larisse must have read Felix's expression of determination, "even if we have to scour the Catacombs for a week."

"Adrien," Marinette hugged her arms for comfort, "I…this is real…how can I…we aren't going to tell him who I am," she glanced at Felix, "right?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ ," she stated because it wasn't obvious enough, "and he's _Adrien Agreste_! He'd never accept me!"

At the sound of her voice al the Kwami and Quantic woke up and flew over to her. "Hi there," Sunne waved as Marinette tried to take them all in, "I'm Sunne, and this is Luunar, Beaak, Snowyy, Gemme, Mello, Whipp, Hushh and Cheep!"

"….Uh…this is Tikki," she pointed to her purse, "there's so many of you…"

A small red Kwami with blue eyes and little antennae flew out of the purse and greeted the others. "Nice to meet you. Now if you'll give me a moment," she turned to Marinette and sternly wagged her hand-uh, fin at her, "you stop talking like that this instant!"

"W-What?"

"Clearly you've overestimated Adrien's sense of superiority," Felix shooed the Kwami and Quantic away, "he'll be fine with you as Ladybug. You're a friend of his, right?"

"I can't," she shook her head, "I can't let him know it's me. I…I can't live up to Ladybug now, not knowing that he's Chat Noir…"

"How about we all sleep on it?" Tani clapped her hands and pointed at the bakery beside the park. "A few of us will check the bakery tomorrow morning and pick Marinette up, and then it's off to the Catacombs for endless fun and possible peril!"

 _What could possibly go wrong?_

 **Poor Marinette. How can a girl sleep knowing her crush is actually her superhero partner? But now the group's got a...sort of plan. To the Catacombs it is for Quantic Squad, Mythic and Ladybug! On a completely different note, did anyone else see the NYCC spoilers this morning? AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FOX KWAMI AND BEE KWAMI AND NEW VILLAINS AND PEACOCK KWAMI AND AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	9. HIM

**~THE NEXT MORNING~**

It would have been too much for the entire group to go to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, so it ended up being Felix, Lyra, Larisse and Neo who went. The others were waiting at the Bourgeois Hotel until they brought Marinette over.

 _I hope she got some sleep last night_ , Felix thought, _or maybe I'm worrying too much._

Larisse led them inside to find Marinette slumped over the cash register, smoke coming out of the stone oven behind her.

 _I'M NOT WORRYING ENOUGH!_

"Gah," Lyra ran around behind her and quickly pulled out what remained of a burnt loaf of bread, "anyone hungry?" She took it outside to cool down as Neo snapped his fingers beside Marinette's head. She bolted up again and looked around.

"Don't tell me," Larisse smirked, "rough night?"

Tikki popped out from behind her. "I tried to get her to sleep, but poor Marinette was up all night thinking about how she was going to talk to Adrien when we find him. I'm surprised she made it down here to the bakery for work today."

"It's only for another few minutes," Marinette rubbed sleep out of her eyes, "dad's coming down to take over. I told him this morning that I'm hanging out with friends today."

"Then we only have a few minutes," Neo told them as Lyra came back in, "to find out why this bakery was part of Isra's dream." They split up and started looking around at all the baked goods. "There has to be some sort of clue here."

"If I may ask," Felix glanced at him, "Isra is a Turkish name. Does that mean-"

"Uncle Macario adopted her last year after she ran away from her orphanage," he answered as they scoured the muffins, "and he adopted me when I was a child after I lost my parents to a cruise gone wrong."

"Why did she run? Because of the miraculous?"

"The owner of the orphanage just up and tossed them at her and told her to never come back. He must have known people were looking for them and wanted to get rid of them quickly, so he sent Isra out on her own."

 _To be on her own for so long_ , Felix looked over the bread, _I don't know how she'd survive without the miraculous at her side. I should be giving her more credit._

He lifted one of the bread loaves away to find Plagg sleeping behind the shelves. "Good morning, Plagg."

"Hm?" The Kwami opened his eyes and turned around. "Oh, hey, Felix."

Felix put the bread back and kept looking. "… _Plagg_?!"

He put the bread away and picked the Kwami up as the other joined him. "What on earth are you doing here?!"

Plagg seemed to finally get what was going on, and his eyes widened. "Felix! It was terrible, Felix," he looked around the bakery, "the mansion was under attack…oh," he noticed Marinette and Tikki, "long time no see, Tikki. And…whoa, you're partnered with Marinette?! Ooh, Adrien is going to love this."

Marinette blushed. "H-He is?"

"Sure, you're his fav girl from school, after all."

"F-F-F-F-F-F-Fav?!" Marinette fainted into Neo's arms as Tikki shook her head.

"Uh, wrong this to say?"

"Sort of," the red Kwami rolled her eyes, "so what's this about an attack?"

"Look, all I know is that I was sneaking around the kitchen looking for Camembert when I heard Adrien yelling from his room. I went to see what was wrong, and the next thing I knew, I was flung outside onto the street. When I flew back in, he was gone!"

"No way," Mello peeked out, "who flung you?"

He gulped loudly before glancing at Tikki, fear in his eyes. "… _Him_."

Tikki flew down beside him and pet his head. "Who this 'him' you're talking about? No one else was in the house."

"No, no," Plagg's voice was barely a whisper now, " _him_ , Tikki. _He_ threw me out."

Now Tikki's eyes were wide with fear. "…N-Not…not _him_."

"Yes, _him_!"

"But _he_ has been lost for thousands of years!"

"Guys," Larisse snapped them out of it, "enough with the pronoun game! _Who_ are you talking about and _why_ should we be afraid?"

 _Ding._

Felix checked his phone. "It's Victor. They're at the Catacombs now, waiting for us before they head down. We don't have time."

"Then don't tell us until we're all together again," she glanced at Neo, "carry her."

Neo lugged Marinette over his shoulder as they left the bakery, only to bump into Chloe rounding the sidewalk corner. "Oh," she sighed when she noticed Felix, "I knew something about this morning was off. Welcome back, Felix…uh," she glanced at Marinette before stifling a laugh, "what happened to her? A muffin recipe gone wrong?"

"…Sure," Neo said, "So we're giving her some…fresh air."

"I overheard you in daddy's hotel lobby. You're going on a trip to the Catacombs, all of you. Mighty suspicious if you ask me."

Felix smirked. "Good thing no one asked you."

"Will you excuse us for a moment?" She stepped over, grabbed his arm and dragged him to the entrance of the park, out of the group's hearing range. "Alright, Felix, spill it."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't like to admit it, but we've known each other for years. I can always tell when you're hiding something from me, and now is no different. So what's the reason for the sudden Catacomb visit?"

"We're just a group of friends visiting a Parisian site, is that so wrong?"

"Felix, you don't hang out with such large groups so nonchalantly." For the first time since they were children her expression softened. "Is this…about Adrien?"

"So you've heard."

"Of course I have," she smacked his shoulder, "that boy's going to be my husband! I've been worried sick since I heard the news. If you know anything about, Felix, tell me…please."

"What's in it for you?"

She actually looked hurt at his comment. "Can't I worry about my friends without having some ulterior motive?"

"…No, Chloe Bourgeois," he turned away and followed the others around the corner of the bakery, out of her sight, "you _can't_."

 **It's going to take time for forgiveness, Chloe...a lot of it. Sorry this is so late, guys, I've been travelling and spending the weekend with family. I'm glad I managed to get this chapter up for you guys, and we'll see how I do with tomorrow's, so wish me luck! And now it's off to the Catacombs...I'd better get to the research...**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	10. Spooky, Scary Skulls

The taxi rolled up and let them out, not bothering to ask why Neo was carrying an unconscious Marinette as Lyra paid him. He drove off, leaving them outside the Place Denfert-Rochereau, the others standing by the Lion of Belfort. Isra and Bridgette waved them over as Stephan shook his head. "What'd you guys do to her?"

"Um," Neo rubbed the back of his head, "we talked about boys."

"Is that all it takes?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Tani, who made an "ugh" sound and whipped her braid at his face.

"Mm," Marinette's eyes fluttered open as Neo set her down on her feet, "w-where are we?"

"About to enter the Catacombs."

"Oh…huh?!" She looked around with wide eyes before letting her cheeks go rose. "I fainted again, didn't I?"

"Yup."

 _Forget about it_ , Ben signed, _we should go now before we grab attention._

Larisse nodded as she, Marinette and Lyra took the lead on the way to the entrance of the Catacombs. Once by the small, dark green building they looked around to find a tour guide waiting to be paid on the sidewalk. "Now we face an obstacle," Victor and Stephan exchanged a worried look, "how to get in without anyone noticing. Won't the door be locked?"

"We can handle that," Snowyy and Beaak poked their heads out of Tani and Isra's backpacks, "just distract her." The two Kwami slipped out of view, phasing through the door.

 _For partners to heroes, they sure make excellent lock picks._

Tani took Stephan's hand, smirking. "How's your Greek?"

He smirked back. "How's your Japanese?"

Benjamin stepped beside them, holding his hands up. _Three's a crowd. The perfect number for a distraction_. Together the trio jogged over to the tour guide and began to ramble on about nonsense at her at the same time, catching her from all sides, arguing with one another in their own languages as she desperately tried to calm them down.

Marinette put her hand on the door handle as Snowyy and Beaak phased back out and into the backpacks. "Get in, quick!"

She and Bridgette opened the door and slipped in, followed by the others as they descended into the darkness. Lyra and Larisse pulled flashlights out of their purses and flipped them on as Felix kept to the door. "Come on, guys…"

Finally Tani, Ben and Stephan raced in and slammed the door behind them, locking it behind them. _Mission accomplished_ , Ben smiled, _now we get a free tour._

* * *

The group walked in silence for the first few moments, gazing at all the skulls on the walls that seem to stare at them, despite being long dead. Felix made out some French graffiti and heads formed into crosses as they stepped further down, down, down.

"I remember coming her a long time ago with my parents," Marinette told Felix as the steps began to flatten out, "but I didn't make it five steps in before screaming and running back out into the sunlight and clinging to the nearest taxi until mom and dad took me home. Here's hoping nothing jumps out at us."

"…Tikki, Plagg," he picked the cat Kwami out of his pocket and held him out in the light of Tani's phone, "you were playing the pronoun game before."

"Yes," Tikki shivered on Marinette's shoulder, "if what Plagg says is true, then we're facing an even greater threat than…than HawkMoth."

"Even greater?" Marinette clearly had a hard time believing her. "So you know who kidnapped Adrien?"

"…Damma," Tikki looked to the other Kwami and Quantic as they popped their heads out in the dark, skull-adjourned tunnel, "I think he's the Lost One."

Sunne gasped. "Not _him_!"

"It can't be," Gemme gawked, " _him_?!"

"Guys," Neo reminded them, "the pronoun game."

"Not possible," Snowyy shook her head, "the Lost One was the first Kwami born, but he was…different."

"Different how?"

"He was evil," Beaak explained, "and no master could bond him to a miraculous. Eventually he vanished, never to be given a name. How do we know for sure that he's Damma?"

"Because," Plagg crossed his arms, "The second he saw me he went for Adrien's ring and tossed me aside using his shadows, and Master Fu told me that the Lost One always worked in the shadows."

"What does Damma want with my brother?"

"That, none of us can answer yet."

 _An evil Kwami that isn't bound to a miraculous_ , Felix thought as they took a left, then a right, _and for some reason they've decided to take Adrien. I wonder…_

"Plagg, can Damma sense other miraculous?"

"I remember him, but only bits and pieces," Sunne admitted when Plagg shrugged, "and…yeah. Somehow he knew where we were."

"Wait," Larisse glanced at her, "you _knew_ him?"

"Sort of. I remember my first master telling us about him, and how he vanished because he didn't agree. He wanted to use his powers for himself rather than working with a human as a hero. He was super sensitive to the presence of other Kwami."

"Uh-"

"I should have known there was something wrong sooner," Plagg smacked his head over and over, "I should have been with Adrien!"

"Um-"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Victor pat the Kwami's head, "we'll find him."

"Guys!"

The group turned to Bridgette, who was at the front of the group now beside Marinette. She slowly turned to them, a flashlight shaking in her hands. "W-Which way do we g-go now?"

"Just follow the route."

"B-But," she pointed to something under her feet, "w-we…"

She was standing on a broken DO NOT ENTER sign. Felix looked back the way they'd come, but they'd made too many left and right turns. "…We've been walking down a restricted tunnel for so long."

"Hold on a moment," Stephan and Tani ran back with their flashlights. After a moment they returned, sadly shaking their heads. "It's no use," she shivered, "we, uh, may have been a little too caught up in our conversation to notice, but…"

Felix knew no one else had the courage to say what they all knew.

"We're lost in the Catacombs."

 **Early chapter today because the rest of the day may be busy with family and more travelling, but I was happy to get this one out. So it looks like our heroes have gotten themselves in a bit of a pickle, but what else can they do? Their only clue leads down into the Catacombs, and from the looks of things, there's only one way to go...**

 **Deeper.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	11. Brother I Have Made More of the Friends

"No, no, no," Bridgette mumbled as Ben came over and hugged her, "we can't be lost in the Catacombs! I've heard so many scary stories about this place! W-We're doomed!"

 _We'll be fine as long as we stick together_ , Ben signed, _and we have the Quantic and Kwami._

"One minor problem," Gemme said, "I don't know if we could phase all the way back to the surface. It's pretty far now."

"We could try to head back," Larisse offered before turning to Felix, "but I'm leaving the choice to you, Felix."

Everyone's eyes were on him. He could see how scared Bridgette and Marinette were, but his feet were firmly planted to the ground. "Isra."

She nodded. "My visions have never been wrong. I know we have to be here to find out more about Damma and Adrien."

He turned to the two pigtailed girls. "I have to keep going."

After a moment they nodded. "Then onward we go." They took the lead with Ben as the group continued their journey deeper and deeper into the Catacombs. It was growing colder, and Tani and Lyra began shivering without any sleeves. Their flashlights were beginning to give, leaving only a few more until they would be caught in complete darkness.

 _It'd be nice if all our flashlights held out until we found some sort of-_

Every one of the group's flashlights clocked out, covering them in a pitch black.

 _Clue._

"Hold on," Cheep said, "we may be able to help. Mello, Whipp, Hushh?"

Slowly but surely each of the Quantic began to glow, and soon the tunnel was filled with bright brown, white and blue lighting. Each of the Quantic's body was a source of mystical light that allowed them to see each other. "Cool," Victor gave them a thumbs up, "why didn't you ever show us this ability before?"

"We never needed it," Whipp told him as they walked along, "but it's nice to be able to glow every so often."

"I wish my vision had given me more information," Isra confided in Felix and Lyra, "wandering throughout the Catacombs with nothing more than an image of skulls from my dream won't get us anywhere with our investigation. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful."

"Its fine," Lyra replied with a smile, "without you we would have never thought to look here. It's a start, at least."

"Hello?"

The group froze. "…Which one of us said that?"

Neo shook his head. "That wasn't any of us."

 _I know that voice._

Felix ran ahead, Cheep flying beside him and he turned a corner, nearly kicking away a loose skull as he made his way to a small, open cavern. He stood at the entrance, panting from his sprint as he stared into the green eyes of the blonde boy standing on the other side of the cavern.

"…Adrien."

"Felix," his brother ran over and wrapped him in a big hug, "how on earth did you get here?! This is a restricted area."

Felix hugged him back as the others ran over to join them at the entrance. "No restricted area is safe from the overprotective older brother." As Mythic and the others entered the cavern and looked around, Felix stepped aside for Marinette. "We also brought a good friend of yours."

 _Oh, and I brought my friends, along with five Greek strangers who are actually heroes like the rest of us. Normal day for the Agrestes._

"Marinette?" Adrien smiled as Plagg dove into his arms and began to cry. "I…," his eyes widened when he realized that Plagg and the other Kwami and Quantic were in full view of her, "I-I c-can explain!"

"…It's true," she whispered as Tikki landed on her shoulder, "you're…Chat Noir…"

"…L…Ladybug?" The two of them gazed into each other's eyes. "I…wow…all this time, Marinette…"

"I know…this is crazy…"

Adrien smiled. "But…I'm glad it's you."

Even with the little light Felix could see her cheeks going red. "I-I'm glad it's you, too…"

 _…Wait…does this mean…Adrien's going to have a GIRLFRIEND?!_

"So," Larisse got the lucky duo's attention, "quick introductions. Larisse, Isra, Tani, Neo and Stephan, and these are our Kwami, Sunne, Luunar, Gemme, Beaak and Snowyy. You should know Lyra, Benjamin, Victor and Bridgette, and these are the Quantic, Cheep, Mello, Whipp and Hushh."

"…Okay," Adrien blinked a few times, "that'll take a moment to completely register."

"While that's going on, can you tell us what happened?"

"I'm so sorry, Adrien," Plagg wailed through his sniffles, "I should have been there for you to transform into Chat Noir instead of stuffing my face!"

"Neither of us could have been prepared," Adrien comforted the Kwami, "it came out of nowhere. This shadowy figure that swiped my ring and dragged me all the way down here." He held his hand up, his white ring missing, and frowned. "Even if I wanted to transform I couldn't."

"I-I'll protect you!" When she realized that everyone was staring at her after her outburst Marinette looked to her shoes. "I-I mean…you're my partner. I promise we'll get your miraculous back."

"T-Thanks, Marinette. Oh, and…"

"Tikki," the Kwami greeted him with a grin, "nice to finally meet you face to face. After all this time of Marinette daydreaming about your future together it's nice to be able to talk with you from outside her purse."

"T-T-T-Tikki!"

Felix sighed. "Okay, save the romance for after we get out of here. We still need to find our way to the surface again."

"Hang on," his brother warned them, "there's something else. The shadow that brought me here, he's not alone."

"I knew it," Tani grimaced, "Gigas and Chimaira are part of this abduction, too."

"Excellent deduction, hero," a deep voice echoed from the dark tunnel, "Too bad it won't help your case."

Marinette and Felix spun around just in time to see a figure standing just out of view. "Oh no," she stepped back beside Adrien as the figure raised a wooden staff, "get back, guys!"

Vines burst out of the walls and floor of the cavern wrapping everyone's arms against their sides and tying them up against the rock. The Kwami and Quantic fled into hiding in their bags and purses as the figure tapped his staff against the ground. The tip of it glowed a bright, bright yellow, showering them in light.

"How unfortunate," he chuckled, "that no one can hear you scream down here."

 **The villains are finally showing themselves to our heroes, and without any contact with the outside world it's up to them to stop these guys before they become part of the skeletal collection below the streets of Paris! Where can they possibly go? And how will they save Adrien from the clutches of evil when they themselves have been abducted along with him?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	12. Catacomb Time Machine

"Gigas," Neo practically spat his name as he and the others hung from vines against the small cavern's rocky walls, "I should have guessed."

A tall black man with long dreadlocks stepped out into the middle of the cavern, wearing a long green cape and suit with a mask over his piercing eyes. He held the staff out in front of him and smirked at the sight of them tied up by his vines. "Nice to finally learn all your secret identities. Neo and Isra Leva, Stephan Barbas, Tani Jones and Larisse Athan. Good work," he glanced back down the tunnel, "Chimaira."

A woman with frizzy red hair and a moving snake for a tail walked into the staff's light, her brown suit and white boa neckline absurdly tacky in Felix's professional opinion. "Nothing to it," she spoke in a voice three octaves too high, "kids are terrible at keeping secrets. So do we get to move onto the big field trip?"

 _I feel unsafe going on a trip with grown strangers._

"What are you planning, Gigas?" Larisse stared him and Chimaira down despite being wrapped in vines beside Lyra and Bridgette. "Don't tell me…you're going to try time travel."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Victor said, "since when could you guys time travel?!"

"The Quantic," Gigas slurred his words, "a pleasure. It seems your new friends have not told you everything about the true power of the mythical miraculous. Together the seven miraculous allow us to break through the time barrier and reach into the past, perhaps even visit and interact with it, to our every whim."

"Let me guess," Stephan rolled his eyes, "you want to once again find some sort of archeological treasure in the past and drag it here to the future so you can become rich and famous for your attributes to society."

"Fool," he snapped before regaining his composure with a deep breath, "I will bring the treasure of history to the future for their perfect preservation."

Felix didn't know how crazy Gigas was, but he was reaching a seven on a scale of ten from the way he talked. "Think of the consequences, Professor Yilmaz. Time travel would mean interfering with already set historical events that could affect people's lives and heritages. You could set of a series of erratic butterfly effects and destroy objects and people of the past and the present."

"Pah," Chimaira spat, "you speak in riddles."

"No, I speak human, you-"

"Enough," Gigas cut him off, "We have the seven miraculous of the family here, as well as two of another and the elusive Quantic as a…backup generator, of sorts. Let us begin."

Tani tried to swivel her hip away. "No way are we letting you get your filthy hands on our miraculous."

"No need. Isn't that right," he glanced into the tunnel, "Damma?"

 _ **Wehaveallthepiecesnowsoletusbegin**_

It really was like a voice made of a thousand wasps clawing a chalkboard. The shadowy figure slithered into the light of the staff, faceless and moving as though with a wind that couldn't reach the Catacomb's depths. "You," Lyra spoke to it, "how did you figure out our identities? And why try to crash us?"

 ** _IalwaysknowidenitiesforIsenseallmiraculousatalltimes_**

"Wait," Stephan cut him off, "so…you knew all our identities this whole time?!"

 ** _Iamapatientcreaturebutnowisthetime_**

Lyra narrowed her eyes at it. "That doesn't answer either of my questions."

"Look, doll face, it's simple," Chimaira yawned as though she'd explained this a hundred times before, "Damma found out Agreste was Chat Noir, so we came here to use him as leverage against you guys. He tried to crash the plane because we thought you Quantic heroes would get in the way, but after Mythic saved you we changed our plans."

"Now you will help us to save the past," Gigas offered, "by fueling our travels."

"Uh, hold on," Victor attempted to raise his hand, "since when did we give you permission to use us as a backup generator for your time machine?"

"You do not get a say."

"…That's cool, except for the fact that _it's not_!"

 ** _Wehaveallthepiecessonowwecanbegin_**

"You don't have to do this," leave it to Bridgette to try and talk sense into the crazy Kwami, "think about what you'll be doing, Damma. Why work with Gigas and Chimaira to fuel their evil plans?"

 ** _Iwishtogobackintime_**

"What are your reasons? You don't have to be evil, you know."

 ** _IamnotevilIamtheonlyonewhoknowsthetruth_**

"The truth? What truth is that supposed to be-"

" _Silence_!" Felix was sure Gigas would break the rock below him at any second with the force he put into his staff slams. "Let us begin."

Damma moved back to the entrance of the cavern and expanded his shadowy body until they were sealed in. Gigas raised his staff as Chimaira pulled her slingshot out and placed it in front of her. The light became blinding for a long moment before dulling. It hadn't become the only source of light in the cavern. "Hey," Larisse looked down at her orange beaded anklet where a feather charm was glowing a deep red, "what's happening?"

Their miraculous were glowing. Neo's wolf tooth bracelet, Isra's golden ring, Stephan's scale pin and Tani's snowball hairband brought new light into the Catacombs. Even Marinette's earrings and Adrien's ring, located in Gigas' pocket, shone out. Chimaira took the ring and slipped it back onto Adrien's finger. "This way Gigas won't have to make the full payment."

 _Full payment_ , Felix wondered, _what sort of payment is being made here-!_

It felt as though all the air in his lungs had been sucked out with a vacuum, and he had to use most of his strength to take short breaths. Lyra beside him coughed and coughed. "Gigas," her voice came out harsh and low, "what's…going…on?!"

"We are breaking the boundaries of time and space," even he was starting to look a bit worried, leaning against his staff, "now is the time for great celebration! We're finally dwelling into the past!"

The Kwami were all sucked back into their miraculous, including Plagg and Tikki. The Quantic clung for dear life as the cavern seemed to spin.

And then the skulls came to life.

 **I GOT INTO MY UNIVERSITY OF CHOICE :D Heh, I know that's off topic, but...yay!**

 **And oh, boy, are we going to have fun now. The Quantic Squad, lucky duo and Mythic are all about to have the ride of their lives as Gigas' time travel scheme comes to full fruition. Things can only get crazier from here on out, because I'm not putting on the brakes for this particular ride through time. And trust me, the fight scenes and romantic subplots are definitely coming.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	13. Somthing Fishy's Going On Here

"Eek," Isra yelped despite none of them being able to breathe properly, "A skull bit my ankle!"

 _Skull bites are the least of our worries-OW!_

Felix could feel someone chomp down on his arm, and when he glanced over he saw one of the skulls had attached itself to him. He shook it off in time to see Neo being attacked from all sides and Adrien kicking one off of Marinette's foot. Still Gigas kept himself standing in the center as the group became dizzy from the constant spinning. "It is working," he reveled in their pain, "the dead announce a welcoming to us from beyond time and space!"

Benjamin, unable to raise his arms and speak through sign language, settled for glaring daggers into Gigas as Bridgette wiggled around to keep from being bitten by the falling skeletons. Tani and Larisse beside them were calling out to the Kwamis but having no luck in getting them to come out of the miraculous'. "Cheep," Felix did his best to talk, "can you stop him?"

"No can do- _urp_ ," the Quantic held back before he could throw up all over his partner's turtleneck, "going…too…fast!"

"This is only the beginning," Chimaira warned them, "we still have to country hop."

 _Country hop?_

"What I want is not in ancient Paris," Gigas laughed, "so we must move…to ancient Greece!"

 _Oh, because that's not too far._

The spinning grew faster as the skulls vanished. Felix felt like his teeth were going to be ripped out of his mouth, and at this rate his hair would be long gone. Bridgette began to scream as they all shut their eyes tight, the lights of the miraculous' becoming too bright to look at. Sounds blurred as his stomach flattened against his side.

 _POP._

And then he fell unconscious.

* * *

"…Felix…Felix…"

 _Why do I smell fish?_

"Get up, Felix! We're out of the Catacombs!"

He sat up, rubbing his head and taking in the fish scented storehouse. He and the others, just waking up around him, sat on wooden planks with barrels of fresh fish surrounding them. It was warm inside the stone-built structure, a perfect cube with a single window beside the curtain over the entrance. "Everyone, to your feet."

"Leader Larisse," Stephan glanced at her, "the window."

"Way ahead of you," she and Neo moved under the window and peeked out, "…oh…oh gosh. Guys," she turned back to them, "we're home."

Felix and Isra looked out over their heads and had to hold back their gasps. "…Athens. It's Athens!"

They were in a shed on a long dock jetting out of the city shore, but the Acropolis was clear in the distance, resting high above the rest of the city made of white and red buildings. They ducked out of sight as fishermen with nets walked by and signalled everyone else to hide behind the barrels until they had a chance to talk some more. Cheep slipped into Felix's hand and shook his tiny head. "Is Athens supposed to look so…old?"

Marinette pulled her phone out. "I'm not getting a signal. And the Kwami," she placed a finger against her earrings, "they won't come out of the miraculous. I hope Tikki's alright in there…can she hear me?"

"They'll be fine." Adrien put his hand on hers, causing her to drop her phone. "If they rest then we can transform later."

"R-Right!"

"Sh, you flirty bugs," Victor put his finger to his lips, "save the awkward teen romance for later, we need to get out of here."

The duo flushed new shades of dark red as Felix shot Victor a look. "What? Would you rather watch them stammer or figure out how we managed to actually time travel?!"

"Sh," Tani and Larisse hushed him into silence as a fishermen glanced their way before passing on, "later. Escape first."

"How?"

Felix noticed a few empty barrels and gave a heavy sigh. "I hope none of you have any sea fish allergies."

It took a few moments but finally Felix's improvised escape plan was ready. As ready as it would ever be. Lyra pulled the curtain aside as she, Felix, Neo, Ben, Tani and Marinette hid behind barrels filled with the rest of their friends, the bottoms popped out so they could shuffle along. They stuck to the edge of the dock, keeping low and behind the barrels as they slowly made their way to the shore. Whenever someone looked their way they froze.

 _I feel like I'm in a cartoon. This can't be happening. I'm in denial. Of my denial. This is fine. Everything's fine. We're just sneaking through ancient Athens with fish barrels hoping to find a way home through an evil Kwami. Oh. Oh, there it goes. There goes my sanity._

"It reeks in here," Bridgette hissed through the barrel beside him, "why didn't _you_ take to the disguise?"

"Because I'm an Agreste."

"Adrien got in a barrel beside Marinette!"

"As did Victor, Isra, Stephan and Larisse. Your point?"

"…Diva."

Lyra at the head of the line halted them as a pair of men in very, _very_ short togas walked past. Neo and Tani kept watch of the waters so they couldn't be caught off guard by any incoming boasts. Felix glanced back at Marinette and Ben, who nodded to continue.

 _We need to find somewhere else to hide once we get off the dock_ , he figured as they came closer and closer to stone solid ground, surrounding themselves with crates, _and walking around in these clothes will only attract more attention._

Finally there were enough crates around them so that no one could see the group as they ditched the barrels. "Gross," Adrien pushed his aside as Marinette giggled, bringing a genuine smile to his face, "never thought this was how our reveal was going to go, m'lady."

Stephan plucked a seaweed off his pant leg. "Out of the shed and into city. Where to from here, people?"

Isra gazed around the dock before snapping her fingers. "I…this place," she turned to the group, "I've seen it before…from my dream! We were here in my vision!"

 **Welcome to approx. 480-465 B.C Athens, Greece, readers, where you'll find modern heroes attempting to stop modern baddies from stealing a not so modern complex of Greek buildings. They may not have phone signals or a connection to the internet, but by golly are they going to do their best to find a way out of this. And hopefully wash off the smell of fish while they're at it.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	14. Trick and no Treats

With everything that had happened Felix had completely forgotten that it was Isra's precognitive dream that had led them to the Catacombs and time travelling villains. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"I'm sorry, but as soon as we started planning to head to the Catacombs it slipped my mind. There wasn't much past the images of the living skulls," she gave a shiver from the apparently not so fond memory, "but I saw the Acropolis, completely built. Then a lion, and then someone in a dark hood…and then I woke up."

"A lion," Stephan rubbed his temple, "of course there's a lion."

We need a way to get out of here. But how will it look if twelve teenagers suddenly start scouring the city without being able to speak any Greek?

"Hey, Felix," Victor nudged him, "I'd say it's about 470 B.C."

"How do you figure that?"

"I don't just study up on Greek mythology, man," he pointed past the crates, "but didn't theatre become a big thing around this time?"

The group peered out at a carriage filled with masks and costumes, stalled as a lineup of chickens scuttled past with their herders as men argued in Greek. "…ladies and gentlemen," Marinette smirked as she eyed the clothing, "it's time to transform."

* * *

 _When's the last time I went out trick or treating? Because I'm starting to feel a bit of nostalgia. Me and Adrien going from door to door in Paris, asking for candy as we were chaperoned by at least three bodyguards. Dad used to design our costumes, turning us into whatever we wanted, while mom made the best candy apples._

"Felix," Lyra poked his arm, "I can feel you daydreaming."

"That's…not how dating works."

The group walked through the busy streets of Athens, robed in long silk tunic of blue, brown and white and wearing masks of anger, sadness and joy. All the girls had braided their hair, though Tani wore a hood from her cloak with Stephan and Victor. Felix didn't want anyone asking why there were two black men and a young oriental woman walking around without their…well, he'd rather not get into the technical.

"We need to make out way to the Acropolis," Neo reminded them, "keep your eyes out for Gigas or Chimaira."

"Felix," Adrien asked as he and Marinette walked alongside Lyra and him, "would they risk splitting up in a place like this?"

"I can't say for sure. Professor Yilmaz has had more time to study this city than us, so they may be prepared enough to go their separate ways for now."

"Okay, Marinette," his brother turned to her, "what do we do now?"

"M-Me? Y-You should ask Lyra or Larisse, or Felix! They're the smart ones."

Adrien lifted his mask up so she could see his face. "You're Ladybug, whether or not my brother is here. You've gotten us out of so many situations before. I trust you more than anyone." He glanced at Felix. "Sorry, Felix."

 _I'll be sure to cry myself to sleep tonight…if I ever make it back to my bed._

They were closing in on the Acropolis now, but the bigger the structure became the harder it was for Felix to believe they were really there. People were starting to pay more attention to them now. "Guys," Tani said, "if I didn't know any better, I'd think people actually wanted us to perform under these costumes."

"Then we'll give them a performance," Larisse answered, "but not in these costumes. I think it's time we truly transformed."

"But the Kwami-"

"Are still with us. They will hear us, so let's go, guys! Sunne, FROM THE ASHES!"

"Gemme, SCALE UP!"

"Luunar, PHASE IN!"

"Snowyy, LET IT SNOW!"

"Beaak, TALONS OUT!"

"ALL EARS!"

"TUNE UP!"

"SPEED BOLT!"

"TAKE FLIGHT!"

"Tikki, SPOTS ON!"

"Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"

"Wah," Bridgette's mask fell off as everyone around her transformed into their hero forms, "give a girl a little warning next time!"

 _That wasn't warning enough?_

They threw the robes and masks off, collecting a gasp from the crowds that began to murmur in Greek. Bridgette piggybacked Kid Mime as Chat Noir took Ladybug's hand. "I've always wanted to the Acropolis."

Her cheeks went as red as her outfit. "Y-Yeah."

 _Too bad this isn't some sort of romantic outing._

They took to the roofs and made their way to the Acropolis. "Grypas, Drako," Foinix commanded, "fly ahead and see if you can find any signs of Gigas."

Melodie nodded. "Mercury, keep with them."

The trio raced off, running and flying past the Greeks and to the stairs of the sight. "I've been wondering," Ladybug asked Yeti, "how does Gigas plan to take the Acropolis to the future if he can't time travel without all seven miraculous?"

"He never told us, but with the amount of confidence he has he's bound to have something up his sleeve."

 _Ladybug's got a point_ , Sparrow realized, _time travel should only be possible with all the miraculous, but he must have known the trip here would separate us. He couldn't control where we all landed and lost us…so shouldn't he be trying to find the miraculous before attempting to steal the Acropolis?_

Something was lingering in the back of his mind as they finally reached the stairs in a pact. Mercury, Drako and Grypas were nowhere in sight. _They must have gone inside_ , Kid Mime signed as Bridgette slid to her feet, _let's find them before Gigas does._

They began up the stairs when the sounds of screaming bellowed from ahead. People in lovely robes and sandals ran down the stairs and past the heroes in a great panic. "Chat, Lykanth," Ladybug glanced at them, "get up there and scout out the area."

They nodded and took to all fours, racing up the edges of the stairs. It wasn't two more flights of stairs, however, before an explosion rocked the ground beneath them. A huge chunk of rock came flying over the roofs of the temples and was headed right for them.

"No," Ladybug gasped, "look out!"

 _CRASH!_

 **The heroes have finally reached the Acropolis, only for things to start exploding! And where have the other heroes gone off to now? And who's throwing rock at them? Let's hope the destruction of this historical monument isn't coming early. And yes, I understand that Marinette and Adrien's reveal in this story was quick, but the story is focused on Felix and his friends. I'll let them sort things out, but for now, we've got baddies on the loose in Greece!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	15. Parthenon Takedown

"Out of the way!"

Chat Noir lunged over the stairs and tackled Lykanth to the side as the chunk of rock smashed into the steps where he had been. They rolled onto grassy rock and to their feet as Sparrow and the others ran over to check on them. "Chat, Lykanth," Ladybug took to her partner's side, "are you okay?"

"I'll live, thanks to Chat Noir," Lykanth scanned the Acropolis temples as people continued to stream out, "but I doubt that's Gigas. He's all about not destroying the sites before he steals them."

Three more chunks of rock flew out towards them. Melodie jumped up and sliced through the first one with her sword, sending the chunks to the sides of the stairs. Yeti grabbed her dagger-ended rope and whipped it around, slicing through the other two chunks and throwing the debris out of harm's way. "Let's take a tour, shall we?"

They made their way to the top and inside. Sparrow could only take a few seconds to admire the architectural design of the temples, statues and Parthenon before seeing something flying towards him. "Wha-"

 _Smack!_

"Oof!" He, Bridgette and Drako hit the ground in a heap. "Watch where you're falling."

"I'll remember that next time I'm being thrown around," he groaned and stood, "but for now, let's deal with that." He pointed to the Parthenon. "Tantrum, much?"

Sparrow peered at the Parthenon as the group slowly made their way over. He could see movement inside as Grypas flew around near the top and Mercury raced back and forth, dodging rocks. "Ladybug, Foinix, I suggest you two take to the top of the temple and have a look. See if Grypas needs any help." As the girls ran off and whipped to the top he turned to Drako. "Just who's throwing a tantrum?"

"Chimaira is on her own, and after I…uh…said certain things about her hair, she started breaking apart the Parthenon. I'm guessing that when Gigas finds out, wherever he is, he won't be too happy."

"I don't understand," Bridgette said, "she starts breaking apart their plan because you insulted her hair? Seems a bit off to me."

"She's acting strangely, then," Chat figured, "but why now?"

 _More worried about the lion_ , Ben signed as they closed in on the entrance of the Parthenon, _when do we run into that?_

"Ooh, that too."

"Mercury," Melodie called out to him as they all ducked under a rain of debris, "what's the situation?"

He pointed inside. "As out of hand as those rocks are. One minute she's telling us how the Acropolis is going to move thanks to Damma, and the next she's growling like a wild animal and trying to knock out heads off like bowling pins!"

"Hey," Drako warned him, "don't drag the innocence of the bowling into this."

"Drako," Foinix called, "rodeo clown routine, go!"

"On it!" He flew into the Parthenon as Felix and the others followed close behind. Chimaira stood at the back wall, ripping pieces of it off and chucking them at Ladybug and Foinix above, who were narrowly dodging. Mercury ran in beside them as Grypas pulled a golden bouncing ball out of her satchel. "Join me, Grypas!"

Chimaira's eyes were wild, like she'd drank a dozen energy drinks and needed a restroom far too badly. "No running, no running, _no running_!"

"Um," Bridgette whimpered, "I'm getting the creeps just looking at her, but her voice? Major horror movie cackle in three, two, one-"

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"Called it. Really wish I hadn't."

"Whoop-whoop-whoop," Drako flew around one of the Parthenon's corners and waved his arms and wings around, "over this way, whoop-whoop! Can't hit the side of a Parthenon, whoop-whoop-whoop!"

 _Are the sound effects really necessary?_

"No running," Chimaira sounded like a high-pitched drone, "One, we are one, will become one, nothing will stop one, us!"

Kid Mime backed Bridgette towards the door as Ladybug hopped down beside Chat Noir. "She's rambling like a crazy person. I'm starting to think we're not fighting all of Chimaira."

"Great," Chat sighed as Chimaira nearly knocked Grypas out of the air, "a loon with acid and super strength."

"Take her down quick," Melodie ordered, "and then we find Gigas!"

They made their work fast. She and Lykanth ran along either side of the Parthenon towards Chimaira as Yeti and Ladybug stood out front and worked to deflect rocks away from the group. Mercury and Drako distracted her from the ground and the air as Grypas moved the ball around with her mind, keeping Chimaira's attention away from Felix and the rest. Kid Mime put invisible blockades up by the entrance as Bridgette ran around outside, trying to scare wanderers away. "Wild lion-like lady," she yelled in English, "lion lady on the loose!"

 _Lion…the lion! Don't tell me this is what Isra saw in her precognitive dream when she told us about a lion._

Foinix used her ribbons on the top of the Parthenon to keep rocks from flying over and striking other monuments. It also gave Sparrow and Chat Noir enough time to run in for some close ranged combat. Chat grabbed his baton as he took his own dart out and kept low. Chimaira cackled again as they approached fast. "The most powerful! I shall be the most powerful! No bonds, no bonds!"

Melodie gave Lykanth a hand signal. "…SIREN CALL!"

"MOOD MADNESS!"

Chimaira couldn't focus on either of them so she chose to look to Melodie. Bad call on her part, as Melodie's beautifully powerful screech smacked into her from one side, Lykanth's howl hitting her from behind and pinning her in between the sounds. Once she was free Sparrow launched his dart at her hand, knocking the slingshot out of her reach.

"No more running," Chat jumped up using his baton for leverage and kicked her right into the half broken wall, "your mouth, that is."

She fell to the floor, unconscious as the heroes surrounded her. Ladybug and Lykanth knelt beside her. "Good work, Chat Noir," she complimented him, "once she wakes up we'll ask what happened."

"No," a deep voice rang out from the entrance, "no one is asking questions."

 **Did anyone really think one villain could stand up to eleven superheroes at once, on their own? (Bonus Bridgette too) but how strange of her to act on her own. Guess Sparrow and the others have some investigating to do, if whoever told them not to ask questions will let them get anywhere near her...or her miraculous...**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	16. The Lost One is Losing Us

Sparrow had no time to react as more vines gathered around the heroes, though they touched nothing else around the Parthenon. Gigas walked in and willed the vines to wrap around them and hold them away from Chimaira, who began to moan and open her eyes. He stepped over to her and reached down.

And ripped the choker miraculous right off her neck.

"Wait," she croaked as she de-transformed, "w-what are you doing?!"

"You nearly broke apart the entire Parthenon," his voice was so cold Sparrow could have sworn winter was coming, "you're a risk factor now."

"B-But-"

"Aren't you being a bit unfair, Yilmaz?" Drako struggled to unbend his wings as they pinched his sides. "You lost control the last time we fought in the Acropolis."

"I was a fool then, but I learned. She, on the other hand," he pointed to Peri in her blue tee and jeans, "has not."

"It wasn't my fault," she exclaimed in a pitch nearly too high for human ears to comprehend, "something made me so mad! Like a voice in my head!"

 _Whoosh!_

Neo had de-transformed after using his special move, now hanging from the vines in his regular clothing. "Gigas," he asked something everyone seemed to be wondering, "Where's Damma been this entire time?"

"Unknown. When we time travelled we were all separated, though it would seem my vines kept you all together as a whole while Peri and I landed nearby. Damma has yet to show himself, however."

"It had to be him that did this," Peri was crying out while pointing at the broken wall of the Parthenon, "he made me crazy!"

"And why would he do that?" Gigas was snapping back at her. "He's here to help us, not hinder us! Or rather…help _me_."

"I think we've had enough of your insanity, Gigas," Ladybug said before glancing at Chat Noir, "let's get out of here, Chat!"

"CATACLYSM!" He clawed at the vines, disintegrating every inch of the foliage and freeing the heroes, who surrounded Gigas and Peri. "Game over, Gigas. You can't steal the Acropolis even if you tried. You don't have the power."

"Don't you see," he smiled, "this is what Damma is willing to achieve with me."

"What can he possibly do-?!"

 _ **IhavegivenyoutheAcropolisYilmaz**_

It was Damma's voice, but it was coming out of Peri. She looked like a zombies, eyes blank as she gestured to the buildings around them. "So it _was_ Damma," Lyra whispered to Sparrow, "but why?"

 ** _WehaveyettoreachourdestinationmiraculousandKwami_**

"What are you talking about, Damma?" Gigas was starting to sound worried. "We have yet to bring it back to the present time. This has been our entire plan all along!"

 ** _Youhaveneverknownmyplan_**

Peri's shadow flew up above her head and transformed into a small black Kwami with pure red eyes. " ** _I am Damma_** ," his voice was strangely dark but now far less wasp-like, " ** _and I have further use of the Kwami – without you, Yilmaz_**."

"Quick," Foinix called out, "stop him before he gets away!"

" ** _You cannot_** ," the Kwami screamed, " ** _LET US BEGIN WHERE IT ALL BEGAN_**!"

He held his tiny hands up and let out a bloodcurdling wail, throwing everyone in the Parthenon back out into the Acropolis. Sparrow and Ladybug manage to stumble to their feet as Adrien de-transformed. The Parthenon hadn't been affected by the scream, but now Gigas and Peri were on the ground with them. "You've been tricked," Victor told the villainous duo as Damma hovered above the Parthenon, "he's not your ally!"

" _ **Now that I have all the miraculous with me**_ ," Damma explained as the sky began to darken like a storm brewing, " ** _nothing can stop me from destroying the lore_**!"

 _The lore? He means history…!_

"If we don't stop him or get out of here," Lyra nearly read his mind, "he'll take us further back in time!"

"Why are you doing this, Damma?!" Bridgette ran over to him despite Kid Mime's attempts to keep her back. "You're a Kwami, aren't you?! You're supposed to be helping save people, not putting us in danger!"

" ** _We are not slaves to your morals. We are beings beyond your species, and we are meant to judge, not join_**!"

"Bridgette," Adrien ran to her, "get away from him!" He grabbed her arm just as lightning crashed down behind the Parthenon's broken wall. Damma's eyes glowed a deep, enraged red as he roared over the thunder.

"No," Gigas snapped at the Kwami, "stop this! You're ruining everything!"

" ** _There was nothing to begin with_**."

"Adrien, Neo, get back into costume as quick as possible," Lyra commanded, "Ladybug, Foinix, we need a strategy!"

"I'm afraid there's no time," Ladybug replied as a funnel cloud formed around the Acropolis, "if we don't try attacking now who knows what will happen?"

"Then we need to clean this place up." Foinix held her hand up. "How about your Lucky Charm mixed with my flames?"

"Buy us time," Ladybug told Kid Mime and Grypas, "give us time to figure out how to properly use our special abilities."

" ** _There is no time for you_** ," Damma glared at them, " ** _for I have all time now_**."

Neo ran over beside Adrien and Bridgette. "Let's find a way to transform back before Damma can…do whatever he plans to do."

"Where can we go," Adrien gestured to the storm funnel, "we're trapped!"

" ** _There is nowhere_**."

"If we can figure out what sort of creature Damma is based on," Yeti whispered to Sparrow and Kid Mime, "would they give us any sort of advantage?"

 _Don't know_ , he signed, _what sort of creature summons thunder and lightning_?

"It's not just that," Sparrow murmured, "he is nothing like any sort of species we know…not like a cat or a ladybug," he glanced at Yeti, "more like _your_ team. A creature that isn't considered an animal, per say."

Neo pulled Bridgette and Adrien away as Melodie, Mercury and Drako ran at him, Grypas and Kid Mime holding Gigas and Peri back.

 _…But what if…oh, no._

"Get away from him," Sparrow screamed so loud that even Damma was shocked, "he's the Kwami of a _DEMON_!"

 **Truths are slowly being revealed as Damma begins to work against Gigas and Peri rather than with them. His plans for the miraculous are coming into the light, and with his powers rising, how can the Quantic Squad hope to help save the Kwami and their partners from going even further back in time? And how much further can they possible go?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	17. Dynasty Danger

" _ **Join me, Kwami**_."

"The Lost One is a demon," Sparrow yelled at the group, "we're not prepared to fight him in our state!"

"We have no other state," Mercury called back, "so hurry up and fight!"

"No, wait-"

No one listened to him. Drako flew straight at Damma, reaching out to grab the Kwami, but the small creature let out another powerful screech, blowing him back and smack into Gigas. Damma screeched at Melodie, but she sliced it apart with a musical blast from her sword. Mercury ran around behind him and jumped up, wrapping his hands around the Kwami. "Ha, see, Sparrow? You worry too much."

Damma screeched, tossing Mercury back into one of the Parthenon's columns. " ** _Enough. We must move farther back in time_**."

"I don't understand," Melodie said, "how can being close together force you guys to time travel?"

"It shouldn't," Foinix clenched her fists, "but I have a feeling Damma has the answers. Let's go, Ladybug."

Adrien turned back to her as they shared a worried look. "Be careful, m'lady."

She smiled. "Always. LUCKY CHA-"

 _CRASH!_

"WAH," they all yelped as lightning hit the group a few feet from Ladybug, "the sky's even lashing out against us!"

"Nobody move," Foinix told the group, "the ground's been electrified!"

" _ **There was a time when I was to be one of you, one of the Mythic**_ ," Damma explained as he floated closer to Foinix, " ** _but I saw how much potential I had. To be bound to a miraculous? Impossible. I deserve more – all Kwami deserve more_**."

"…How can you make us time travel?"

" _ **I am a catalyst that can force the use of miraculous powers at any time, making me the most powerful**_."

 _If we move we face the risk of being electrified_ , Sparrow looked around, _but if we don't then there's no telling where in time we'll end up…or if we'll end up together…the vines aren't holding us together anymore!_

The Mythic's miraculous, including Gigas' and the one he held, all began to glow, along with Adrien's and Ladybug's. " ** _This is my special ability_** ," Damma almost smiled, " ** _to use other miraculous' abilities_**."

The storm closed in on them, and to everyone's horror they began to float – all except Gigas and Peri, still on the ground. "Wait," Gigas de-transformed, "you can't just leave us here! We must return with the Acropolis!"

His necklace and Peri's choke flew out of his reach and beside Damma. " ** _I don't need you anymore, professor. I have given you what you want. Enjoy your historical monument…forever_**."

"You can't do this!"

" _ **It is too late. I have already won**_."

"Why are we floating?!" Ladybug looked around, unable to move back towards the ground. "Where can we possibly go now-?!" As thunder rumbled above she was flung upwards into the clouds by an invisible force. " _Ahhh_!"

"Ladybug," Adrien screamed as she vanished, " _MARINETTE, NO_!"

One by one the heroes vanished into the clouds, until only Sparrow and Bridgette were left slowly floating upwards. Gigas and Peri were yelling at them, obviously pleading to be taken home, but he couldn't hear them. Damma was flying towards Bridgette as she desperately looked around. "Ben?! Benjamin!"

" ** _I will need help finding the masters_** ," the Kwami clung to the back of her shirt as she flew upwards, " ** _join me_**."

"Sparrow," she cried out, "help!"

 _There's nothing I can do_ , he grit his teeth, _we're slaves to his power until we land…in another time-!_

And then he felt himself thrown into the clouds, thunder clapping around him until he could hear nothing. He felt his stomach twist.

Then darkness once again took him.

* * *

Travelling through time made Felix feel like throwing up his insides. The second trip gave him the feeling of being disassembled and reassembled by a three year old with their stacking blocks. He sat up with a sore everything and looked around. He was outside now, resting besides a gathering of camels that were ready to spit on him. There was no one else around he recognized, either, no Mythic or Ladybug or Adrien. There was nothing he could recognize in the city now, but he presumed it wasn't Greece anymore.

 _I need to find them and regroup before looking for Damma_ , he figured as he walked through the streets of robed citizens, carrying around food and guiding livestock, _and hopefully Bridgette with him…no, it'd be better if they didn't arrive here together. I don't want to think what that Kwami plans to do with her if he has her alone…?_

A shepherd guided a couple cows around people as others were speaking in a foreign language, presumably about the clay bowls they were showing one another. Felix kept to the side of the road, back pressed against the buildings. He slipped in between two houses and slightly pulled his turtleneck down. "You there, Cheep?"

The Quantic poked his head out and nodded. "Sorry I wasn't talking much before, but time travelling makes me feel woozy. I'm fine now, though. Never thought I'd get used to this kind of trip."

"Do you recognize this place?"

"Anything significant you could see?"

Felix peeked out from the homes and took in the new surroundings. "Lots of livestock, tools sitting outside the houses for work with soft clay, and judging from their skin colour and dark hair, I'd say…we're somewhere in ancient Egypt." He squinted at a tablet inside a window. "Hieroglyphics…don't panic, Cheep, but I'm pretty sure we're around 3100 B.C. The first dynasty of Egyptian civilization."

"Think we're going to run into the Pharaoh?"

"They weren't called Pharaohs during this time," he snapped, "they were known as Kings."

"Of all the things you could be mad about right now, you're yelling at me for getting a royal title wrong?"

"I know, sorry," he rubbed his temples, "this is all getting to me. Let's just find the others, and fast. Can you track them?"

"Sure…if you can run fast enough!" He pointed at a pair of armoured guards looking their way and jogging towards them, speaking in angry Egyptian.

Spears aimed at Felix.

 **You want the past? Welcome to approx. 3100 B.C, Egypt, where the Quantic Squad's troubles are continuing as Damma vanishes with Bridgette. I won't be doing a full tour of the First Dynasty because I don't believe I have enough knowledge to do it respectably, but sure enough they're wa out of their time leagues. Can Felix find his friends before the guards catch him and arrest him - or worse?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	18. Dangit Felix, Oh, and Dangit Ben

"I'm taking to the sky, so keep up!" Cheep flew upwards, forcing Felix to run down the space between the buildings and into a slightly quieter road. The guards were right on his tail, spears at the ready as they yelled in Egyptian, one of the few language he had never had the time to look over.

 _I'm a stranger with bright blonde hair in odd clothing who can't speak any of their languages_ , he thought as he stumbled over a barrel in his sprint away from them, _but does that really have to be so suspicious?_

Cheep was ahead of him in the clear air. "I'm getting something…this way, Felix!" The Quantic dove between two more buildings and out of sight.

"Don't get so far ahead," Felix called out, not caring that he looked crazy with two guards chasing him and probably using some colourful vocabulary, "I swear, if you get lost and that gets me lost!"

He ducked into the alleyway between the buildings as a man with his pack of goats blocked the way behind him, keeping the guards momentarily distracted. "Up here, Felix," Cheep said over the flat rooftops, "use the pile of crates!"

 _He's not serious…nope, he's serious._

The guards were barking at him louder than the goats. Reluctantly he climbed up the staircase of boxes and stood on his tip toes, reaching for the edge of the roof. "Is staying on the ground too much to ask for-!"

Just as he grabbed the roof his foot slipped, and the pile of crates crashed to the ground in a heap of bent and broken boxes. He hung by his fingers, unable to climb up against the smooth wall. "Cheep, this is all your fault!"

" _My_ fault?!" Cheep flew around his head as the guards shoved the goats aside. "I told you to work on your upper body strength for situations like these! Where's that strength you had when you carried Lyra away from Beast Boss?"

The guards were underneath him now, about to reach up with their spears. " _I should not be dealing with situations like this_!"

Suddenly Hushh flew up over the roof and noticed them. "Hey, Cheep, Felix!" He turned around. "Over here, Benjamin!"

Ben peeked over the edge as Hushh and Cheep flew around the heads of the guards, keeping their eyes off the boys. _Long-time no see_ , he signed, _need a hand?_

"No, I regularly hang off rooftops-of course I need a hand!"

Ben grabbed his hands and pulled him up onto the roof as the guards swatted the Quantic away. _You're heavy_ , Ben smirked, _and weak. Work on upper body strength._

"Oh, come off your high horse."

"Felix," Lyra and Victor ran over to them as the guards started piling the crates back up, "thank goodness we found you. Have you seen the others?"

"Not yet," he pushed them along as the guards reached for the roof edge, "but let's continue the search elsewhere!" He led them over the rooftops as the guards finally climbed up onto the roof. "Any ideas how to lose them?"

"Should we transform?"

"I'd rather we didn't," Lyra answered as they hopped onto another roof, "we'll only attract more attention."

"But that would let the others see us!"

"And Damma," Felix reminded him, "For now we keep low…uh, as low as he can."

The group made another leap onto the next rooftop. "Where do we go now-"

"Ben!"

 _Wham!_

They turned back to see the guards a few roofs back. All four Quantic flew down into the alleyway they'd jumped over. "Ben slipped backwards!"

 _And I thought Adrien was supposed to be the one with bad luck._

The trio ran to the edge of the roof and looked down. Ben was on the ground, tenderly touching his left ankle but wincing on contact. They carefully made their way down a flight of stairs and over to his side. "Geez, man," Victor moaned, "just what we need. A sprained ankle tends to slow down a chase scene."

 _Sorry_ , he signed, _didn't jump far enough. Worried about Bridgette._

"We'll fine her, buddy," Victor helped him onto his good foot, "after we lose the guards. Speaking of which," they looked up to find the guards yelling down at them, "any ideas, Lyra, before we're arrested?"

The guards stopped and turned, seeing something on the roof Felix couldn't. They ran off, completely forgetting about the group. "…Lucky break, I suppose."

"What did they see?"

Mello flew up and peered over the rooftops. "Looks like a rampaging pack of goats and lambs got loose in the streets, but they're sure to be back."

"Then let's not be here to greet them," Lyra took the lead out into the busy streets, "we've still got eight more people to find."

* * *

Felix and Victor helped Ben walk along for the next half an hour, ignoring all the stares of the people as carts of food and passing camels nearly ran them over. "This is bad," he murmured, "We don't know for sure that they haven't been caught by the same guards that were chasing us. If they've been arrested-"

"There," Lyra pointed ahead, "I just saw Bridgette! We can catch up if we hurry. Oh," she glanced back at Ben, "uh, carefully hurry. Can you get up there and keep an eye on her, Cheep?"

"Got it," the Quantic flew ahead, "she's in my sights! She's running out of the city limits and into the desert! Hope she has sunscreen!"

 _Again, least of our worries right now._

Cheep led the way through the crowds until finally they found open space behind a couple houses with livestock eating under the hot sun. Climbing over a small hill was Bridgette, focused on something in the distance.

 _But there's nothing there_ , Felix looked over her shoulder as Lyra ran ahead, _where does she think she can go?_

"Bridgette," she called out, "Bridgette, wait! We're right here, so turn around!"

Either she hadn't heard them or she wasn't listening, because she forged ahead towards a large rock. She stepped over to its cracked surface.

And then she stepped _into_ it.

"S-She's disappeared!"

 **Oh, Felix, able to sweep women off their feet in a single bound but unable to climb a wall? Poor boy. I mean, not as poor as Ben who's gone and sprained his ankle in ancient Egypt, but still. So, where do you think Bridgette's gone? How does a girl just disappear into a rock like that? Something's definitely up here, so the Quantic Squad's got a bit of a mystery on their hands now.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	19. Brother Bonding Moment, Aw

_A-A mirage?!_

"She's vanished," Victor gawked as they approached the rock, "were we following a ghost this entire time?!"

Lyra placed her hand against it. "It feels solid, so…what did we just see?"

"Felix," the group turned, "there you guys are!" Adrien and Marinette ran over to them with Tikki and Plagg. "We were starting to wonder if you guys have travelled to a different era entirely."

"Oh," Marinette saw Ben's limp, "are you okay? And have you guys seen Larisse and the others?"

"Not yet, though we thought we'd found Bridgette," Felix answered as Ben unhooked himself from the others and leaned against the rock, "until she…walked into this rock and disappeared."

"…She did _what_?"

Adrien scratched his head. "Maybe she was a mirage?"

"We saw her walking around through the crowds," Cheep said, "and people were parting for her, so she had to be real."

"Let's think this through," Marinette looked around, "Bridgette came to this rock and stepped into it, but the rest of us can't. I wonder if she had anything with her that let her pass through…but how would she know in the first place?"

"…Damma," Felix snapped his fingers, "Before we time travelled through the storm he was near Bridgette. He said he needed help to find his masters."

"So Damma was with her," Plagg surmised as he sat on Ben's shoulder, "suspicious-ah!"

He clung to Ben as the two of them slipped into the rock, just as Bridgette had. The group stepped back in shock. "B-Ben?!"

A few second later Plagg flew back out. "Guys, there's a staircase in there! Oh, and Ben tumbled down it and it laying at the bottom in pain…so, there's that."

"Kwami," Lyra nodded, "the only way to get through the rock is when one is in contact with a Kwami. Plagg, Tikki, hold onto Adrien and Marinette, and lead us through. Everyone hold hands." She took Felix's hand, smiling. "Not that I should need an excuse to hold certain people's hands."

 _Mental note taken._

Marinette walked through the rock first as they entered a cool darkness one by one. A small stairs case entered into a dirt tunnel lit by torches along the walls. Ben was standing and leaning against one of the walls as they joined him on flat ground. _Ouch_ , he signed, _thanks for screaming like a girl._

"Hey," Plagg blushed, "I wasn't the one screaming."

 _Falling down stairs does that._

"Bicker later," Victor quieted the group, "let's see where this leads. Bridgette has to be at the end of the tunnel, unless we can somehow pass through solid sand, too."

Marinette pat the walls. "Nope. Let's get going." She and Lyra walked out front as Victor helped Ben along, Felix and Adrien behind them.

"Sorry," Adrien apologized after a moment of silence, "if I hadn't been kidnapped so easily we may not have had to deal with this."

"You don't have to apologize, Adrien," Felix placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "nothing short of Isra's dream could have been prepared for Damma."

"…We're going to get back home, right?"

"Is the great Chat Noir worrying?"

Adrien glanced at Marinette, who gave him a little wave before returning to her conversation with Lyra. "Worrying about more than just being stuck in time."

"She likes you."

"She's so amazing, and I…I model clothes. That's it."

"You are more than the face of a fashion magazine, Adrien, and Marinette is your friend because she knows I'm right when I say that you're an intelligent, charismatic individual that is strong, with or without the mask."

"I…I don't deserve her."

"No, you don't deserve such an inferiority complex," he gave him a warm smile, "but you do deserve to be happy, and I know she makes you happy."

Despite the little light the torches gave he could see his brother blushing at the comments. They walked on in a peaceful quiet, but the further they travelled the thicker the chills running down Felix's spine became until he could swear there was a frosty breeze running right through him. "Anything up ahead, Lyra?"

She shook her head. "I don't see or hear anything. Marinette?"

"Same," she sighed, "maybe Bridgette really did phase through the wall at some point, because there's…someone walking up ahead."

The group froze as the sound of light footsteps echoed ahead in the darkness. "Yeesh," Victor whispered, "and I thought walking through the _Catacombs_ was terrifying."

Lyra moved forward despite the rest of them staying perfectly still. "Wait here," she said, "Mello and I will see what's up." They were soon out of sight, leaving the group in an impatient silence.

 _I hate when she goes off on her own into unbridled peril. And yet I love her more than myself…okay, that's enough thinking on my part_ , he stepped in front of Marinette, _I'm getting way to sentimental for my tastes._

Mello flew back to them before he got too far ahead. "We've found something, guys! Follow me, there's a chamber just at the end of the tunnel."

It took only a moment for the group to find their way into said chamber, not much higher than their heads with a round table in the center with three more tunnels branching out across from them. Lyra stood beside the table, examining a box in the middle. "Adrien, Marinette, check this out."

"What's in the box?" They stepped over to either side of her. "Hopefully a map."

"Not exactly," she opened it as the group surrounded the table, "but it's just as interesting."

 _…The miraculous?_

Marinette's earrings and Adrien's ring sat in the center, with five other accessories around them. "Wow," Plagg and Tikki landed on the table with the Quantic, "talk about nostalgia. I'm starting to remember this place."

"Yes," Tikki nodded, "this chamber, these tunnels…it's a hiding place."

"For who?"

The footsteps were coming closer form one of the tunnels, but Felix couldn't tell which. "Well what do you know," Victor murmured, "looks like we're about to find out."

 **A secret chamber underneath the sands of ancient Egypt? Sign me up! But not really, depending on who's about to come out from the darkness and greet them. Friend or foe? Suspenseful, I know, so you'd better get ready for a bit of a history lesson, people. Don't worry, notes are not required with this class ;)**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	20. Giving You an Improvised History Lesson

Felix half expected Bridgette to walk into the light of the lit chamber, but an old man in a thick blue robe would have to do. He stepped out of the tunnel behind Victor and Benjamin, a shaven head and thick black beard sticking out from his hood.

 _He's wearing a hood in a tunnel to hide his face. From who, dust bunnies?_

He began to yell at them in Egyptian. "I'll translate," Tikki offered as she listened intently to him, "he's calling you intruders and asking why Plagg and I are here and not with the others. Wait, the others?"

"Hold on, Master Ankhhaf," Plagg flew over in front of his face, "chill out."

"Uh, Plagg," Adrien politely pointed out, "I may not be a history buff, but I'm pretty sure they don't use the word "chill" in this era."

Ankhhaf looked from face to face, then back to Plagg and Tikki. He spoke to them for a moment before giving Tikki time to translate. "He wants to know how you got in here and where you've come from. He also wants Plagg and me to go back with the others, but I don't know where that is. It's been so long since we've been down here."

To everyone's surprise Plagg began to chat with Ankhhaf in Egyptian, and apparently he was quite fluent from the old man's softening expression. "Plagg," Adrien had to ask, "What are you saying to him?"

"I'm doing my best to explain that we're a Tikki and Plagg from the future and got lost here looking for the Lost One-er, Damma. He seems to be taking it for truth."

Once the Kwami was done explaining everything that had happened to them and flew back to Adrien's side, the group let Ankhhaf register what he'd heard. Felix had to give the man credit, because he didn't run away screaming for help or trying to use some sort of ancient magic to curse them. Instead he focused in on Ben's sprained ankle. He pointed to the table as Tikki shrugged. "He wants you to sit on the table."

Ben hopped with his good foot up onto the edge of the table. Ankhhaf crouched and placed both hands around his ankle and chanted, and in a moment Ben grinned. _No pain_ , he signed enthusiastically, _he's a healer._

Tikki thanked him in Egyptian before listening to Ankhhaf speak some more. "He says that he doesn't completely understand, but he can sense that we're the real Kwami, so he's going to help us."

Ben stepped onto both feet and signed "thank you" to him. Ankhhaf smiled. Even if he didn't understand, Felix was glad the man was willing to help, because they were going to need it. "Plagg, ask where the others are."

"No need," he pointed behind him, "here they come."

Seven Kwami flew into the light, two of which were Tikki and Plagg's past counterparts. The Quantic and present Tikki and Plagg hovered over the box of miraculous as all eyes met. They began to natter on in Egyptian.

 _Of course they wouldn't know our language yet_ , Felix sighed, _because it hasn't come to that yet. I'm afraid to think what would happen here if we didn't have translators._

"How exciting," Tikki giggled, "I've just told myself that we're here from the future and are looking for a friend, and they want to help!" She flew over to a small purple butterfly and orange fox-like Kwami and gave them each a big hug. "I miss you guys so much."

Felix glanced at Marinette, who mouthed "HawkMoth" to him.

 _The butterfly is with HawkMoth right now, a victim of his own greed. And the others have yet to find partners_ , he deduced, _so Tikki and Plagg have been without their old friend for a while now. No wonder they're so excited._

"Our friend came down here," Lyra told them, "a young girl with a long braid. Did any of the Kwami notice a stranger walking around the tunnels, Plagg?"

Plagg asked and got an answer from the bee Kwami. "She remembers hearing something through the tunnels. She wants to lead us, but apparently Master Ankhhaf has something to show us first."

Master Ankhhaf spoke to the Kwami. "No way," Tikki gasped, "now I remember! There's another entrance into the tunnels! He wonders if others like us could have found their way in through it."

"Larisse and the Mythic," Victor nodded, "let's have a look, then." They followed the old man down one of the other tunnels, the Kwami and Quantic floating around him in a cluster of chatter.

"Plagg," Felix asked, "can Ankhhaf tell us anything more about Damma?"

Plagg spoke to the man for a moment. "Okay, guys, here's the lowdown: A group of magicians across the globe, including Master Ankhhaf, came to an agreement not too long ago from this era."

Adrien tilted his head. "That's some good cellphone reception for the past."

"They communicated via crystal balls, duh."

"...Cool."

"Egypt, Japan, China, Greece – every corner of the world has a member of their small group. The miraculous were created using the strongest of magic and placed inside the charms. It was agreed that families would be made for each miraculous, so that they were kept together. Then we came to be."

"Further explanation, please."

Tikki took up the explanation. "Such powerful magic had repercussions, and as the miraculous were created we, part of the charms, became sentient, bound to each miraculous. However, there was the first ever Kwami that…well, didn't work."

"Damma," Marinette said, "when he became sentient he didn't have good intentions."

"They tried to contain him, but he fled from Greece with his miraculous and destroyed it so no one could control him. Master Ankhhaf is afraid that if he's come back, he's going to try and meet up with is past self."

 _Mass chaos to ensue._

"It's just up ahead," Tikki told them as they neared another small chamber, "think we'll find the others?"

"That," Adrien shivered, "or Damma, waiting for us."

 _…Happy thoughts._

 **One of the first master, how exciting for your group...you know, despite the danger looming over their heads with Damma nowhere to be found and Bridgette currently missing and the Mythic running around Egypt on their own...nah, it's all good. So what does this mean for the Quantic Squad and Lucky duo? How long will it take to find Mythic? And Bridgette...where's she gone now?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	21. Bowling Over the Law

The chamber was tiny, really, barely enough room for the group to step into together. Ankhhaf pointed to the opposite wall, a torch on either side of a patch of hieroglyphics. _That must be the entrance_ , Ben signed, _who wants to go out and check if Mythic is around?_

"I'll go with Plagg," Adrien volunteered as he stepped over to the hieroglyphics, "we won't be too long."

"Not on your own," Lyra pushed Felix forward, "it's dangerous to go alone. Take this. Tikki, do you mind?"

"Not at all," she sat atop Felix's head and Plagg moved to Adrien's shoulder, "we'll find the others in no time!"

Together the brothers stepped through the wall and into an open temple overlooking the city. "Amazing," Adrien smiled, "I know we're in constant danger of being trapped in this century or losing to Damma, but…I can't lie about enjoying seeing all these places."

"Father never lets you travel."

His smile faded, immediately placing guilt on Felix's chest. "Well, he says that I may be able to go to America for a visit soon. Related to work, of course, but it's better than nothing. He always had more trust in you."

 _Or he always had an easier time the farther away I was from him._

"Whoa," Marinette stumbled out from the brick wall with the other Tikki clinging to one of her pigtails, "sorry. I-I wanted to help."

"Very well," Felix led them away from the tunnel entrance, "hopefully there'll be some sign of Mythic around here…unless they were transported into the middle of the desert."

"Felix!"

"I'm just stating it as a possibility, Adrien."

Marinette giggled. "You two make the perfect brothers. With Felix's serious attitude and Adrien's energy, the two of you work so well together."

Felix smirked. "May I say the same for his charm and your energy?"

They blushed and averted their gaze from one another. "Oh, for goodness sake," he rolled his eyes as Both Tikki's rode on Marinette's shoulders, "isn't it about time you two talked like partners outside of your costumes? You're still Ladybug and Chat Noir, so go about your day as you usually do."

"…I suppose," Marinette slowly turned back to Adrien, "I'm being silly getting all shy like this. I'm sorry."

"And I should be more open about my feelings," he responded as they gazed into each other's eyes, "I'm sorry, too."

 _How sweet…maybe, if we stay calm like this, nothing will ruin their moment-_

"Let go of me before I go Sasquatch on you!"

 _Aaaaannnddd moment ruined._

"There, up ahead," Plagg pointed through the parting crowds, "its Tani and Stephan!"

The same guards that had been chasing Felix and the others over the rooftops now held Tani and Stephan by their arms, marching them through the street. Adrien pushed the trio behind a cart as they passed by. "Hold up," Stephan said, "what about our free call? We get a lawyer, don't we?"

 _Good thing Gemme and Snowyy are hidden, or this would get really, really awkward…hold on_ , he looked to the sky, _that can't be…oh, gosh._

Grypas was flying towards the city, followed by Foinix and Lykanth along the roofs. It was only another moment before they revealed themselves to the entire city and brought chaos to the streets of Egypt.

 _If they show themselves to the guards the people really will think the gods have come to judge them, and we'll be messing with too much history._

"Plagg, Tikki," Felix glanced at the Kwami, "Get out there and warn Grypas and the others not to show themselves. We'll get Tani and Stephan to the temple. Tell them to follow."

As the Kwami flew off, out of people's view, he stood and walked into the open. The guards noticed him and halted their prisoners before yelling at him with faces red with anger. "About time," Stephan sighed with relief, "a little help here?"

Carefully Felix reached into the cart and picked up two clay bowls. Their patterns were simple but pleasant, and if they were cared for properly could be found as artifacts thousands of years from now. He held them out to the sunlight.

Then he chucked them at the guards, conking their foreheads and dropping them to the ground. "Run!"

"Felix," Adrien laughed as they took to the street, "that was brilliant! I never took you for a loose cannon!"

"Never call me that again!"

Isra, Larisse and Neo de-transformed and followed the Kwami back towards the temple. "Make sure Snowyy and Gemme are holding onto you," Marinette warned them, "because if you don't then it's going to hurt when we run straight into the wall."

"Wait," Tani blinked a few times, " _why_ are we running into a wall?"

"To escape!"

"Not a sufficient answer!"

Once inside the temple they regrouped. "The guards are right behind us," Isra held onto Beaak, "where to now? It's a dead end in here!"

"We've found the man in the hood from your vision," Felix told her as they approached the wall, "now hold onto your Kwamis and follow me." He glanced back to see the guards racing into the temple behind them. "Quick!" As past Tikki sat on his shoulder he phased back into the cavern, where the others had waited. "Found them-"

"Oof!"

"Ouch!"

"Watch it!"

"Hey!"

"Group hug!"

They fell in a heap on top of Felix. "Oh," Lyra suppressed a chuckle, "nice of you to show up at last, Mythic."

 _I'll sit here, being the chopped liver that I am._

Ankhhaf smiled when they stood and dusted themselves off. After speaking to future Plagg the Kwami nodded. "Master Ankhhaf is overjoyed to know the Kwami have met such caring partners."

" _ **All but one**_."

"Bridgette," Marinette gasped as all heads turned to the entrance of the cavern, "I mean…Damma?"

Bridgette stood in the tunnel, looking them over with a blank stare. She wore the chimera choker and troll pendant miraculous. " ** _Damma, Bridgette_** ," she smiled but spoke in the Kwami's voice, " ** _we are one now_**."

 **Why am I giving you guys two chapters today? Because I made a lot of progress with the story yesterday and wanted to share the treasure with you guys. I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am writing it, and as we come closer to the climactic final battle, there's more at stake than just chopped liver now that Damma has found a host for his power.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	22. Dangit Marinette

Felix wasn't sure if Victor and Neo could hold Benjamin back for long, but from the mute's cold expression he wasn't any happier than the rest of them after finding out that Damma was using Bridgette as a puppet. " ** _Do not be angry_** ," he spoke through her, " ** _this is all part of the final phase_**."

Ankhhaf was muttering to himself as the past Kwami hid behind his robes. "Why, Damma," Larisse asked, "why bring us to this era of Egypt? Why aren't we still in Greece, where our miraculous family originated?"

" ** _Before I meet my past self I must have progress, so I've brought us here to Egypt to destroy the miraculous that exist here now_**."

Isra glared at her. "We won't let you."

" ** _You can do nothing, unless you want to hurt your friend in the process_**." With a wave of Bridgette's hand she now wore more miraculous.

"No," Sunne gasped, "Tikki, Plagg, your charms!"

Earrings, ring, hair comb, brooches, bracelet and necklace, and once they were on her they all took a deep inky colour. " ** _Join me, Kwami, because when I succeed, you will no longer be its slaves_**."

The past Kwamis were sucked into the charms against their will, vanishing from view. Ankhhaf began to yell at Damma in Egyptian but Bridgette held her hand up for him to stop. There was no point in arguing. " ** _I leave you here while I prepare. Do not attempt to stop me_** ," Bridgette began to succumb to the shadows around her, " ** _or face the consequences_**."

"No," Marinette ran at her, "don't go!"

"Wait," Adrien tried to run after her, shoving Lyra and Tani aside, "Marinette, wait for-"

 _Whoosh!_

Both girls vanished as the tunnel emptied of shadows. Adrien tumbled out, on his own. "…Me." He looked back to the others in the cavern, but no one knew what to say. Even Felix was having a hard time thinking up something confident to tell him.

 _Damma's not only made off with nine miraculous, but he's taken Bridgette and Marinette to who knows where with him…and there's nothing we can do about it._

* * *

The group had been sitting in the center chamber underground, around the table where the box of miraculous had once been. Plagg had been translating whatever Ankhhaf wanted to tell them, such as how the Japanese were collecting a book of all the Kwami and miraculous for future reference. "That book," Plagg glanced at Adrien, "the one your father had."

"Wait," Felix looked to his brother, who sat glumly on the table, "how do you know our father has that book?"

"He doesn't. Not anymore. Not after I…," he sheepishly rubbed his head, "broke into his secret vault behind mother's painting, stole it, and then lost it."

"…You didn't."

"I'm sorry, but I wanted to know what was in it," he snapped, "is that so wrong?!" When he noticed everyone staring he fell silent. "I'm sorry…I should have gone with her."

"Look, people," Larisse informed them, "lounging around with frowns longer than the Nile river isn't going to save Bridgette and Marinette from Damma, nor is it going to defeat him before he rewrites history."

"Larisse is right," Lyra stood up, "we need a plan. Damma probably hasn't left this century yet, not without "making progress" with the miraculous. He may not even leave Egypt until he's accomplished something."

"I don't see any reason for him to stay in the city," Neo added, "but if he were to take his powers somewhere open, such as a part of the desert, he'd have more than enough room to find a way to destroy them."

"Marinette is strong enough to handle herself," Adrien smiled, hopping off the table as his spirits lifted, "she'll distract Damma long enough for us to find them!"

"I can't give us any more information from my precognitive dream," Isra reminded the group, "so we're going in blind…but it is eleven to one, so we've got very good chances."

 _Twelve to one_ , Ben signed at her, _Bridgette will fight, too._

"Unlike Damma," Tikki smiled as she, Plagg and the Quantic hovered around Ankhhaf, "we know how to work together as a team!"

"The ultimate team," Plagg high-fived Gemme, "we can handle anything he throws out way! Can I get a whoop-whoop? And maybe some camembert?"

Stephan laughed. "Whoop-whoop, good buddies."

Ankhhaf nodded and spoke to Plagg. "There's another exit from the chambers," the Kwami told them, "one that leads further into the desert, a last resort escape in case people try to steal information."

"Then it's time to get fashionable," Tani said as Larisse and Isra undid their braids, the former putting her bun back up, "Snowyy, LET IT SNOW!"

Ankhhaf's eyes widened as the entire group transformed into their hero forms. "Tikki," Mercury asked, "can you translate until we get out of here?"

She nodded and listened to Ankhhaf's excited banter. "He's so happy that the Kwami have been able to find partners that want to use our powers for good, as well as…well, you guys. I don't know how he'd pronounce Quantic."

Ankhhaf led them down another tunnel, a much longer one that ended with another staircase. They stood at the bottom as he turned to them. "He wants to thank you," Tikki told them, "for going out to stop Damma when he can't. He hopes we stay safe and can save the others before Damma succeeds."

"Tell him we will," Melodie and Foinix hugged the old man, "we promise."

Tikki translated, but Sparrow was pretty sure he got the message from their hug. He stepped to the side as Kid Mime climbed the stairs first. _Need a Kwami_ , he signed, _Grypas, let's get out there._

She took his hand, and together they vanished through the solid wall at the top of the steps. Foinix and Melodie were right behind, followed by Mercury and Yeti along with Drako and Lykanth.

"Felix."

Sparrow turned back to Chat Noir at the top of the stairs. "When we find Bridgette and Marinette…how exactly do we save them?"

"However we can," he held onto his brother's shoulder, "if we ever hope to save them _and_ history."

 **The final battle approaches for our brave heroes, people, as they step through the portal and into the battlefield. What will it be like? Who will they find there? And how can they hope to stop someone with more than one miraculous under their control? And for those who are wondering, Yilmaz and Peri are still in Greece, and they're going to STAY in Greece. They've had their chance to shine as villains. Damma's in control now.**

 **Uh oh.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	23. A Sandy Situation

It should have still been day when Sparrow, Chat Noir and the others stepped into the middle of the desert, out of another large boulder than led back into Master Ankhhaf's tunnels. The sky should not have been as dark as it was as strong winds blew their hair and hoods around. "The sky," Tikki had to cling to Sparrow to keep from being blown away, "oh, dear…"

"I hate to say I, I really do," Mercury said, "but I think we're in the eye of the storm."

"If this is the calm," Yeti murmured, "I'm _so_ not ready for the chaos."

Dark clouds swirled around above them as sand rode the gusts of hot wind that drew across the hard ground. "Keep together," Melodie told the group as they moved forward, shielding their eyes, "and follow my lead."

Grypas pulled hair out of her face. "Lykanth, Chat Noir, can either of you smell or see anything nearby?"

Chat shook his head. "Even with my enhanced vision I'm not seeing anything, just…sand and rocks."

Lykanth scoured the distance. "I think my vision is stronger than yours, Chat, because I've got two figure in my sights, just beyond that hill up ahead."

"Then forget my senses, go for it!"

Foinix turned to them. "Sparrow, Grypas, Lykanth, you can blend in the easiest around here. Go ahead and scout out the figures for us. We'll stick with Melodie and keep afar until we get a signal from you guys."

The trio set off, sticking to the thicker winds of sand as they approached the hill. "The rocks," Grypas pointed to a huge pile not far from the shadowy figures, "we'll hide behind there. Come on, before they notice us." She led them over, and they kept their backs to them for a moment, watching Melodie lead the others just under the hill. "We still need a solid plan before we proceed."

"Let's first have a peek at who those people are," Lykanth narrowed his gaze towards the figures over the rocks, "I'm seeing…them," he pointed so the others could follow his gaze, "Marinette and Bridgette, just…standing there?"

Through his red goggles Sparrow zoomed in on the duo, arguing in the very center of the sand storm as it wailed around them. Bridgette still looked the same, hair braided and seven nine miraculous being worn, but Marinette's braid had come undone, and she hastily put it back into pigtails as she spoke.

 _I can't hear what she's saying from behind this pile of stones. Somehow I have to get closer._

"Stay here and wait for the others," he told Grypas and Lykanth, "I'm going to get closer and listen in."

"Be careful."

 _No, I'd rather run over with arms flailing like a maniac._

He slowly slipped around the rock pile and behind another boulder. "Damma, listen to me," he could hear Marinette now, pleading with the Kwami inside their friend, "I understand why you're doing this. Feeling like you're nothing more than someone's slave is hard, but how does controlling Bridgette prove that's wrong? You're doing the very thing you're trying to stop others from doing to you!"

" ** _I will not allow Kwamis to be slaves to humans_** ," Damma corrected her, " ** _but I never said anything about being against humans becoming our slaves for the greater good_**."

"Greater good?!"

" ** _I will destroy all miraculous and free my brothers_**."

"By using the Kwami against their will?"

" ** _Until they can see my way_**."

 _His logic is flawed_ , Sparrow reached for a dart, _we have to stop him now before he has a chance to use the miraculous and hurt the girls-_

"Marinette!"

 _A-Adrien?!_

Chat Noir leapt over the hill of sand and towards the duo. "Stay away from her, Damma, and get out of Bridgette this instant!"

" _ **I require a host to use the miraculous**_ ," Damma turned to him, " ** _so I will not be letting her go just yet_**."

"I may not have Tikki," Marinette said, "but I know she has my back, wherever she is, and so does Chat Noir! I won't disappoint them by letting you turn away from me anymore!"

"I'm here, Marinette," Tikki whispered from under Sparrow's hood, "Felix, I have to get to her, but if I go out in the open I'll be blown away."

"We should keep the advantage of surprise. With my brother and Marinette already in the open we're down two."

"But what about Ladybug?!"

"Give us time!"

Too loud. Damma turned to the boulder, and with a wave of Bridgette's hand the sand around it and Sparrow exploded. He barely had time to toss Tikki out into the sand as he was pinned underneath the large rock. He'd admit to being caught under Beast Boss' fists more than a few times, but a boulder slowly crushing his legs gave him a _terrible_ sense of nostalgia. "Get to Marinette," he croaked out, "quick, Tikki!"

He heard Chat gasp. "Hang on, Felix!"

"No, stay with Marinette!"

Grypas and Lykanth jumped out from behind the pile of rocks, the latter running over to Sparrow's side. "Hope you heard what you wanted," he placed his claws under the rock and lifted it up by a few inches, "now let's move!"

Chat joined them and dragged Sparrow out as Lykanth dropped the boulder, rubbing his arms. "I need to start lifting more."

" ** _I know you have not come alone, heroes_** ," Damma raised Bridgette's arms, " ** _come forth and face my ultimate power, users of the Kwami and Quantic_**!"

Chat helped Sparrow to his feet as sand spun around in the air, thicker and faster. "Uh oh."

"Understatement, brother."

The hills of sand around them flew into the air, tackling Grypas to the ground as Melodie and the others were exposed. Tikki managed to fly over to Sparrow and hug the edge of his hood again as Bridgette began to rise into the air. " ** _I will now show you me pow-OW_**!"

Marinette had lunged at her before she got too high, grabbing her by the waist as they wove through the sand and into the clouds.

"Marinette," Chat Noir yelled over the storm, "Don't leave again! _Marinette_!"

 **Dangit, Marinette, you're getting as reckless as Chat Noir! What's going to happen high up in the clouds now that she and Damma in Bridgette's body have vanished from sight...again? Well of course something crazy, because it wouldn't be a climactic battle without twists, now would it? But you guys are just going to have to wait to find out what happens next!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	24. Spots Out, Hieroglyphics In?

_What is with this girl and jumping into the fray without a plan?!_

"I hate to say it, Adrien," Sparrow said to Chat Noir as the storm clouds thickened above and the air filled with sand, "but your superhero side is starting to rub off on her."

There was movement in the clouds, and in seconds a body began to fall straight to the ground, hair flying around her face. Kid Mime ran underneath where she would fall and created an invisible trampoline overtop his head. She hit the mesh and bounced a few times before he held his arms out and caught her. Sparrow, Chat Noir and Lykanth ran over as he brushed the hair out of her face.

"Bridgette," Yeti gasped, "and she's not wearing the miraculous anymore!"

She no longer had any jewellery on. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. "…B-Ben…Ben," she wrapped her arms around him, chilled to the bone, "I could feel Damma inside of me…I was so scared…and yet, we spoke, and I almost got him to…to listen…"

"If Bridgette is down here," Chat slowly looked upwards to the clouds, "and she doesn't have the miraculous…then…!"

"At last," Damma's voice boomed over the desert like a sonic wave, "I have become the strongest."

"Out of the way," Bridgette yelped as she and Kid Mime backed up, "everyone, get out of the-"

 _BOOM!_

Something crashed into the sand in the middle of the group, plowing them back with hot air as they were thrown back into the sand. Sparrow, Chat Noir and Grypas got to their feet first and looked to the center of the crater. Chat's eyes widened with both shock and terror.

"…M…Marinette?"

Her pigtails were intact, but that was about all that remained of Ladybug. She had transformed into a black eye mask with blazing crimson irises and hieroglyphics that shimmered on her inky bodysuit. " ** _There is no Marinette_** ," Damma sighed, " ** _now hand over the miraculous, Mythic, before I have to apprehend you one by one_**."

 _Not very creative costume wise, but he's got the annoying villain voice down pat._

"Stop this, Damma," Tikki flew out of the sand and slowly towards Marinette, "we don't want to be freed, we want to work together with humans to bring peace to those who suffer from evil! Why have you never understood that?!"

" ** _Because I was first_**!"

"But why-"

" _ **I saw the fear in the masters' eyes when I first appeared from their ancient magic**_ ," Damma explained as the sand storm grew stronger, " ** _and they knew, they've always known, that we can do so much more without humanity holding us back! Don't you see, Tikki_**?!"

She sadly shook her tiny head. "I see a Kwami who never found the right partner, not through all these thousands of years. Please, Damma…I want Marinette back."

To Sparrow's surprise, Marinette's expression softened in…something along the lines of concern. " ** _She'll just control you again_**."

"That's not how our relationship works."

" ** _Would you try to justify HawkMoth_**?"

"Never. He's who we're trying to defeat, but only if we work together."

"… _ **No**_ ," Marinette's head shook, " _ **it is because humans and Kwami are together that such evil exists. I must put an end to it**_!" Her arms raised as the sand began to cyclone around the group, almost reaching into space. " ** _I must save us_**!"

"Mercury," Sparrow called to him, "reverse the momentum!"

Mercury nodded and zipped into the cyclone, running circles in the opposite direction to slow the cyclone. "Nothing is faster than Mercury, and nothing powers Mercury more than talking in the third person!"

Damma had a hard time keeping Marinette's eyes on Mercury as the cyclone began to slow, but holding her hand out Sparrow was surprised to find a black yo-yo with crimson spots pop into her grip. " ** _You can't stop this_**." She whipped it out to the cyclone, wrapping it around one of Mercury's legs as he circled again. Once she had hold of him she yanked him back, tossing him overhead and back into the speeding cyclone against his will. " ** _Now stay put, Mercury_**."

"Somebody stop this ride," he yelled as he was flung round and round, "before I hurl!"

" _ **All weapons are at my disposal**_ ," the yo-yo transformed into Chat Noir's baton, " ** _but if you must fight, then come forward. I won't let you abuse the Kwami for any longer_**."

"Funny," Yeti snapped back, "we were just about to say the same thing!" She and Lykanth raced towards Marinette. "I've got you covered, Neo!" Grabbing her dagger-ended rope from her hip she swung the knives at Marinette, trying to knock the baton from her hands.

" ** _The flight of the bee_** ," Marinette flew up and swatted the knives away, " ** _and the experience I've gained over thousands of years, and yet you still think you can win_**?" Catching both ends of the rope the baton spun around, twisting up the rope until it wrapped around Yeti's hands. The Kwami then grabbed the rope and stuck the ends into the cyclone, dragging Yeti against her will into the sand and pummeling her into Mercury.

"Tani!" Lykanth growled and lunged into the air, tossing his boomerang at Marinette. As he landed Marinette caught the boomerang with the baton and spun it back at him, only for him to catch it mid-air and toss it back, creating a rhythm between the two.

"Come on," Sparrow dragged Chat Noir to the others as they regrouped, "while Lykanth has her distracted we need to stop the cyclone."

"B-But, Marinette!"

"Can handle herself until we fix this! Have faith in your partner."

 _Bridgette's keeping eye on Mercury and Yeti_ , Kid Mime signed as Melodie and Foinix formulated a plan, _but how do we save them and stop Damma?_

"Alright," Foinix clapped for attention despite the chaos around them, "Melodie, your music blares and a giant fan on Kid Mime's part should be able to break apart the cyclone if we add Grypas' powers and Chat Noir's bad luck. Drako, you, Sparrow and I will help capture Damma, and Bridgette will talk him down."

"M-Me?"

Everyone turned to Bridgette. "You said you were getting somewhere."

She thought for a moment before nodding with determination. "…Yes. Yes. L-Let's do this!"

 _Would it be a jinx for me to say that nothing should go wrong?_

 **Felix. Felix, why. Why did you have to say it? Oh, well, guess we'll have to see how the plan works out tomorrow. I tried to make an outfit for Damma possessed Marinette that was both simplistic because of the Kwami's not caring for his appearance, but also unique in the way he absorbs miraculous, so the hieroglyphics came to mind. Now let's see if our heroes can't do a thing or two to this bad boy before Marinette becomes a permanent host!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	25. Felix why WHY'D YOU SAY IT!

_Of course everything goes wrong. Stupid, stupid jinxes!_

The plan had been simple and easy to follow as the heroes split up. Melodie and Kid Mime took to either sides of the cyclone as Lykanth continued to fight one on one with Damma, who'd transformed Marinette into the demon villain. "Hang on, Neo," Drako said as they gave up on calling each other by their hero names, all identities already exposed, "we're coming for vengeance!"

"I can use cataclysm to destroy the cyclone," Chat assured Sparrow, "but…I've never defeated a villain without Ladybug by my side."

Sparrow sighed and resisted the urge to pat his brother on the head. "You're heroes because of your individual powers being used for good, not because you're each other's partners. You both have your own battles to fight, so get out there and show me that you're a hero based on your own skills."

"Right," he smacked his cheeks, "no more whining. We've got a world to save," he ran off, "and Marinette is my world!"

 _…He realizes what he just said, right? I…forget it, Felix, bigger things at stake here._

Damma noticed them splitting up. " _ **No**_ ," he grabbed the boomerang with the baton and tossed it into the cyclone, " ** _you will not escape! Not with my brothers and sisters_**!"

Grypas and Drako took to the air, the latter spreading his wings and grabbing his blowgun. "At least your brothers and sisters know teamwork!" He began spitting balls of heat at her, but the baton shifted into a turtle shell shield. "Hey, no fair!"

"Mercury, Yeti," Bridgette called out, constantly pulling her loose hair out of her mouth as the wind pushed it around, "are you guys okay?"

"Um," came a reply from everywhere, "define okay!"

They had the upper hand. Grypas controlled her bouncing ball with her mind and knocked Marinette to the ground as Drako swooped down and grabbed the shield. Lykanth pounced and pinned her down as Kid Mime and Melodie used their invisible fan and musical blasts to break apart the cyclone. "That way," Bridgette guided Grypas to Mercury and Yeti, "bring them over here!"

" _ **You fight well**_ ," Damma admitted as Chat Noir reached the edge of the cyclone and raised his claws, " ** _but you should know something about merging more than two miraculous together_**."

"Oh yeah," Lykanth snarled, "and what's that?"

" _ **When Kwami powers combine, pain becomes a human weakness – and I am no human**_!" Marinette kicked Lykanth off and flipped to her feet. The shield in Drako's hands vanished and she held a yo-yo again, whipping it around Chat and yanking him away from the slowing cyclone. " ** _No more mercy, children_**!"

Two, three, four cyclones burst from the desert sand and moved around the group as Marinette hovered in the air. Her pigtails broke apart, setting her hair loose as the hieroglyphics on her black suit slipped to her back and sprouted out like a pair of sharp bat wings, glowing and phasing in and out of sight. " ** _ULTIMATE POWER_**!"

"Damma," Bridgette screamed, " _NOOO_!"

Sparrow jumped in front of Chat Noir as Tikki dove for the inside of his hood. "Get behind the Quantic, before he-"

 _BOOM!_

A massive shockwave expanded from Marinette, the hieroglyphic wings growing in size. All the Mythic were hit by the power as Sparrow shielded Chat Noir and Tikki feeling a deep burning sensation on his back. Sparrow and the rest of the Quantic Squad turned in time to see Isra and Stephan hit the ground beside one another as Larisse, Neo and Tani fell unconscious, their miraculous floating from them and to Marinette. " ** _Join me_** ," Damma had her smile as the Kwami tried to fight against the pull, " ** _we are the strongest, the most powerful, and we will show them all_**."

"You have to stop him," Sunne called out to the Quantic Squad and Chat Noir, "before he absorbs our Tikki and Plagg! Hurry…" her voice stretched out as she, the others and their miraculous disappeared into the black suit, and the symbols of their charms appeared on the hieroglyphic wings.

"I'll get them out of here to somewhere safe," Bridgette slugged Stephan and Tani over her shoulders and despite the evident strain started to move, "so hurry…and…stop him…for us…"

 _Never knew how much muscle power was in her_ , Felix thought as Damma cackled, mad with power, _let's hope we can show just as much strength._

"He can't suck us up," Melodie realized as Kid Mime, Mercury, Sparrow and Chat Noir ran to her sides, "because we don't have miraculous! As long as we're transformed, we can have the upper hand."

" ** _I may not be able to absorb your power, Quantic_** ," Damma flew higher and higher, " ** _but your species has never been as powerful as the Kwami. You are outsiders to our world, formed from the magic of the far off stars_**."

"Wait," Sparrow cut him off, "the stars…the stars have magic powers? You're not serious. Being a man of science mad accepting the Quantic powers hard enough, but I _won't_ believe that gaseous balls of heat in space can do magic."

" _ **There are stars far out of human reach that possess powers unknown to humanity**_ ," Damma explained as Marinette floated over them, " ** _so few have learned how to reach them through great magic from here on Earth, and it is from those that the Quantic were formed. You are uncontrollable, and that makes you a threat_**."

"Okay," Bridgette was out of breath as she jogged up beside Kid Mime, "they're behind a pile of rocks, out of the way of the…the…cyclones…"

The cyclones were moving in a pattern around them, closing in. "None of us are safe until Damma is down," Mercury reminded them, "So a backup plan would be great, leader."

Melodie scanned the area. "Mercury, you and Bridgette keep the others safe out of the cyclones' way. Out spin them when they get to close. Kid Mime, you and I will bring Damma down so that Sparrow and Chat Noir can find a way to get Damma out of Marinette's body and stop this."

 _Ah, yes, so we have the easy part of exorcizing a Kwami from her, because I have plenty of experience doing that!_

"This is it," Melodie gripped her bow sword, "Quantic Squad, _move out_!"

 **With Mythic down for the count and Marinette unable to transform into Ladybug, it's up to the Quantic Squad, Chat Noir and Bridgette to stop Damma and all the powers of the miraculous he now holds from destroying the desert and wrecking history. You know, no pressure or anything...it's six against one, so...there's a chance, right?**

 **Right?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	26. The Inventor Invents

"Sparrow!"

Two seconds into the start of the Quantic Squad's plan and already Bridgette was asking him and Chat Noir to halt and listen. "Bridgette, we're sort of busy saving the world and such," he pointed to the cyclones Mercury was racing around to slow, "so keep Mythic out of harm's way using that surprising amount of muscle you've been hiding from us."

"But it's about Damma," she insisted, "when he possessed me we actually started to talk, and I almost made him see why what he's doing is wrong! He was going to listen to me."

"Why you?"

"Because I don't have superpowers."

"That's right," Chat snapped his claws, "you're the only one in the group without a Kwami or Quantic!"

"He trusts me. I think I can get through to him if I have the chance. I can do more than just keeping Mythic safe! Please, Felix," she used his real name with puppy eyes, "what can we do?"

 _She has a valid point. If Damma is only willing to talk to her, then we have no choice. Besides, she did survive being possessed without any damage, so…sigh…_

"Chat, help Bridgette move Larisse and the others to the pile of rocks," he instructed, "I'm going to join Melodie and Kid Mime as backup. And don't get sucked into any of the cyclones!"

"Gee," Chat rolled his eyes as he and Bridgette ran to the others, "good advice."

Damma was holding his own against the others, sticking to the air as Marinette's large hieroglyphic wings flapped hot wind over them. " _ **I may not be psychic like Isra**_ ," he said, " _ **but my control of the miraculous weapons is supreme**_." Grypas' golden bouncing ball flew around in the wind, smacking against Kid Mime. He created an invisible racket and swung the ball out of reach, but it simply fell back into Marinette's hand and shifted into Yeti's dagger-ended rope. " ** _Now stand still_**."

Melodie jumped and whipped her bow sword down, sending an array of string sounds towards Marinette. The hieroglyphic wings folded in front of her, deflecting the sounds into the sky. "We can keep her back, but I don't see a way to bring her down with all the powers and knowledge Damma has."

 _Okay, Felix, you're the smart one_ , Sparrow looked from the fighters to the rescuers of the group, _think up a solution. This is what you do…this is the only thing you really know how to do…scratch that. I know how to be pessimistic at all times._

" _ **As the masters before you, so too shall you fall**_."

 _The masters…that's it!_

"Keep him here," Sparrow yelled as he ran off into the desert, "I have a plan!"

"S-Sparrow?!" Melodie could hardly believe her eyes as she saw him dashing across the sand. "Look out for the cyclones, you idiot!"

"Tikki," he spoke to the Kwami in his hood, "you still with me?"

"Yes, but why one earth are we running into the storm?!"

"Because it's the only way to get back to Master Ankhhaf!"

"Don't tell me you forgot something back in his tunnels!"

"Give me more credit than that-"

 _Cyclone!_

He had barely registered the great tornado of sand and stone before him as his feet lifted off the ground. He grabbed his hook shot as the wind whipped his hood off. "Tikki, get on!"

She clung to the tip of the hook shot. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we hope you don't squash on impact."

"WHAT?!"

 _Bang!_

The hook shot flew out towards the boulder, Tikki clinging for dear life. " _Ahhh_!"

Just when it looked like she was going to become a Kwami pancake against the boulder the hook phase through the solid surface. Sparrow held tight as the rope went taught, holding him out of the cyclone's reach. He pressed the trigger and slowly pulled his way forward until he finally came to the stone and got his feet on the ground.

"Do that again," Tikki popped back through, eyes blazing, "and I'll show you just how scary a Kwami can be without its miraculous."

"No thank you, Damma has educated me enough. Take me to Ankhhaf." He held onto her tiny hand as she led him back into the torch lit tunnel. He put his hook shot back and ran along behind her until they reach the table chamber again, where Master Ankhhaf stood, anxiously waiting for news. He noticed Sparrow enter and began to speak to Tikki. "He wants to know everything," she glanced at Sparrow, "what do I tell him?"

"Tell him that I need a miraculous."

"But Damma has all the miraculous, save for Chat Noir's."

"And his own."

"He doesn't have one…oh," her eyes widened, "you mean-!" She quickly relayed the idea to Ankhhaf, who slowly nodded. "He'll do it," she listened to his Egyptian explanation, "but it's going to take a lot of magic…"

"Can he do it?"

Ankhhaf placed his hands on the table surface, which began to glow with strange symbols Sparrow couldn't recognize. "It's harder this time," Tikki explained as something solid began to form in the center, like a floating crystal, "not only is Master Ankhhaf without his allies, but Kwami are born out of the creation of the miraculous. Making one for a Kwami that already exists…it's never been done before."

"Can we help in any way? It doesn't have to be big, just enough to hold Damma until we can find a way to calm him down."

She thought for a moment. "…De-transform."

In a flash Cheep was floating beside her as Felix watched the symbols on the table surface hum. "Felix, place your hands on the table across from Master Ankhhaf," Tikki ordered as she and Cheep flew to either side of the forming crystal, "you may not have magic, but your knowledge as a hero can be used as energy, and Cheep's essence mixed with mine should be able to stabilize the process."

Felix did so, and as he placed his palms against the symbols he could feel a strange warmth flowing through his chest. Tikki and Cheep were glowing now as Ankhhaf continued to chant. The heat was starting to become uncomfortable.

 _Will this work_ , Felix wondered, _or will I enter the desert to find the battle already over?_

 **SURPRISE SECOND CHAPTER AGAIN! Yup, I was doing some extra work on the story and decided to post another chapter today for you guys, so I hope you enjoy it! From where I am now with the story it should be a few more chapters after this, making it the longest story of the Quantic Squad trilogy, but I've so happy you guys have shown such positive support for it!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	27. Attack of the Fifty Foot Tall Teenager!

"You're doing it, Felix," Tikki exclaimed as the chamber shone, "you're helping us make a miraculous! Isn't it wonderful?"

"It would be," he winced, "if it didn't feel like I was cooking from the inside out! Why is it so unbearably hot?"

"Magic is coursing through you, feeding on your energy," Cheep closed his eyes as the crystal in the center of the table began to flatten out, "just don't think about it too much or else you'll burn up and set aflame."

"That happens?!"

"Probably."

"Cheep!"

Ankhhaf hushed him; the miraculous was nearly complete. Fighting every urge to run back into the desert, the Artic compared to the heat swelling inside him, Felix kept his hands down on the surface, shutting his eyes from the blinding light. "Is it-?!"

His ears popped and his throat went dry as his legs gave out from under him. He hit the ground and gasped for air. After a moment he finally grabbed the edge of the table and pulled himself to his feet, able to breathe normally again. Then he set his gaze on the item between Tikki and Cheep. "…We did it."

A black tattoo in the shape of a round jawed skull laughing maniacally was resting by Tikki's feet as she and Cheep sighed. "Thank goodness," she grinned at Ankhhaf, "we actually made a miraculous. Master Fu is going to want every detail when we get home."

Ankhhaf spoke to her with a proud smile on his lips. "He praises you for your bravery, Felix," she translated as Cheep picked the tattoo up and carried it over to his partner, "few have survived the creation of the miraculous."

 _Information I would have loved before we went through with this._

He took the tattoo and gave Ankhhaf a formal bow. "Tell him that I thank him for doing this on such short notice, Tikki, and let's go-!"

Ankhhaf stumbled and fell to the floor. "Ankhhaf," Felix ran around the table and to his side, helping him over to the wall to lean against, "Cheep, I want you to stay here with him until we trap Damma inside the miraculous."

"But you won't be able to transform without me!"

"Hopefully I won't need to." He stood and ran into the tunnel for the desert with Tikki. "We won't be long, I maybe promise."

"Maybe promises don't count!"

"Tikki," Felix asked as they approached the stairs up to the boulder exit, "how do we force Damma into the miraculous if he hasn't been born from its magical energy?"

"We have to bond him to it by forcing him to transform with it."

"Can he simply decide not to transform into the miraculous?"

"He'll need to be within the body of someone with enough willpower to make it his only option. But, Felix, that person has to be-"

She held onto his shoulder as they ran through the entrance and into the desert – and right into the path of another cyclone. "Not again," she screamed, "we're in for it now!"

"I got you guys!"

Before Felix could be sucked into the center of the tornado Mercury grabbed him and raced behind the boulder, putting him down as it passed by. "About time you came back. Why did you run off like that?"

"To grab this," Felix showed him the tattoo, "where is Damma?"

"Still fighting Melodie and Kid Mime, and they're not holding up too well. Come on," he turned, "I'd better take you before you get blown away." He waited for Felix to get on his back before standing. "Hold tight!"

 _Should the thought of not holding tight ever cross my mind?_

Within a split second they were back in the center of the storm. "There," Tikki pointed, "oh…oh, Marinette, no!"

The first thought that came to Felix's mind was "approximately fifty feet," because that's how tall he estimated Marinette and her hieroglyphic wings to be now, looming over the heroes. She held Melodie in one hand and had Kid Mime pinned under her left foot. " _ **How many times must I tell you**_ ," Damma scolded them like they were infants, " ** _I am strongest_**."

"Felix," Chat Noir and Bridgette ran over to them, "I was worried you'd been trapped inside one of the cyclones! Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry, but I had to grab the miraculous." He let Tikki explain what had happened as he watched Melodie swing her bow sword, slashing music at Marinette's neck. She was dropped and fell towards the ground, landing gracefully on her feet near Kid Mime.

 _Beautiful…focus, Felix, focus._

" _ **I'm wasting my time here**_ ," Marinette turned away from them, freeing Kid Mime, " _ **stay and fight amongst yourselves while I go about my plans**_." The cyclones moved around her like bodyguards, making it impossible to get close.

"I have Damma's soon to be miraculous," he told Melodie as she and Kid Mime jogged over, "but with those cyclones around I won't be able to get it close enough to Marinette to let her force him into it."

"Felix, wait," Tikki flew in front of his face, arms out, "I should have told you before we left the tunnel, but Marinette can't be the one to transform."

"What?"

"A newly created miraculous must be used by someone who isn't bonded with another miraculous. Which means," all eyes fell to one shocked face, "there's only one person here that can stop Damma now."

Bridgette gulped loudly. "M-M-Me? You want _me_ to transform? It's not gonna feel like being akumatized, is it?"

Chat Noir shook his head. "It shouldn't. But how can we get Damma out of Marinette and into Bridgette so she can transform?"

"Easy," Felix turned to his brother, "kiss her."

There was an awkward silence in the group, until Mercury coughed. "So…want me to teach you a new word, Felix? It's called _subtlety_."

"I'll be subtle when there isn't a fifty foot tall young woman possessed by an evil Kwami heading towards civilization, Victor."

"Kiss," Chat's eyes went wide with panic, "I have to _kiss_ her?!"

"Transform," Bridgette fell against Kid Mime, "I have to _transform_?!"

Felix looked to Melodie, who hung her head. "…We're not ready, are we?"

"Doesn't matter," he pointed to Marinette, who had taken to the air and flying right for the small city they'd first arrived at, "because Damma is, and in a matter of moments he'll have destroyed one of the first Egyptian cities, - he'll erase it from history. Forever."

 **The clock is ticking for the Quantic Squad as Damma heads out on the town in hopes of, oh, I don't know, causing mayhem and whatnot. I hope you guys don't think I rushed through the creation of the miraculous, but I didn't want to waste too much time inside the chamber. Besides, magic is magic, and only magic can explain magic, and I'm not a magician nor is Felix, so...let your imagination run wild with what you think went down.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	28. Ho, Ho, Hold On Freaking Out Here

It was a makeshift plan on Felix and Chat Noir's part that made the former feel like a fool and the latter feel like Santa Claus on Christmas. "Mush, Mercury," he pretended to whip, "mush for the good of humanity!"

Kid Mime had created an invisible sled that they'd filled with sand so they'd know where to sit. Placing the unconscious Mythic inside, Felix and the others had sat around them as Mercury grabbed invisible reins and started to pull. Melodie used her sonic scream to push them along, but everyone knew she couldn't hold it for long, even with her enhanced vocal strength in costume.

"Put this on," Felix handed the tattoo miraculous to Bridgette, "once we're able to get Damma out of Marinette it'll be up to you to force him to transform you into a hero."

"Will I become a hero," she wondered, "or his next villain?"

 _All depends on you_ , Kid Mime signed to her, _you can do this._

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I hope so. It's just so much pressure…if it goes wrong, Benjamin, will you…make sure I can't do anything drastic?"

He hugged her and rocked back and forth, an uneasy glumness falling over the sleigh ride. Felix turned his attentions to Melodie, who was starting to shake from all the tension building up in her lungs from the constant screeching.

 _We never have those sort of moments together…if we survive this, I'll have to change that, no matter how much research I have to do._

He stood and came to her side, keeping her from falling over as Mercury lugged them onward to the outer reaches of the city. "Guys," he yelled over his shoulder, "I don't want to make the mood anymore up in the air, but I'm pretty sure I hear screaming up ahead. Tell Melodie she can cut off, I'm good from here."

She stopped and leaned on Felix for support. "Don't try to talk," he smirked, "you can chew me out later."

She managed a smile as Larisse moaned by her feet. "Uh," she sat up, "what the…whoa." Slowly she got to her feet and pointed at the city coming up. "What did we _miss_?!"

The others slowly woke up, allowing the entire group to survey the damage as Mercury came to a stop. Marinette stood by the temple, tearing it apart as though searching for something. People were screaming in terror, running and calling out what Felix assumed to be the names of the gods they worshipped. Begging for survival and forgiveness. "Your miraculous were already absorbed," he told Larisse and the others as everyone hopped off the sled, "so stick with the crowds and make sure everyone gets out safely."

"Hold on," Tani poked him, "you don't seem to be in costume, either."

"We're a team when there's five of us," Melodie spoke up, "with or without out costumes."

"Same here," Stephan flexed, "now why don't we go and save the crowds?"

Larisse nodded. "Mythic, let's get out there! And make sure not to get stepped on by monster Marinette!" Felix watched them run off and into the crowds, stealthily guiding the citizens out of harm's way when the guards were too busy.

"We're moving out, too," Melodie grabbed Felix and flipped him up into her arms in a bridal carry, "Kid Mime, bring Bridgette. Tikki, hold onto Felix's shirt."

The Kwami nodded as Felix tried to hide the flush of red on his cheeks. "I-I can walk, oh caring leader."

"And I can see your cheeks going red, dummy…you can wrap your arms around my neck-"

"Just _go_."

She, Kid Mime, Chat Noir and Mercury took to the rooftops and headed straight for the temple, where giant Marinette rampaged. "So, explain this to me again," Chat asked Felix as he kept up alongside Melodie, "I have to…to kiss her."

"Don't tell me you've forgotten how to kiss. Remember the way you used to give Chloe kisses when you two were tiny-"

"D-Don't bring that up here!"

"You love her, right?"

"…Yes."

"Then you're gonna fight for her or so help me I will personally ask father to ground you until you're as old as he is!"

"You don't have to use threats," he grinned, "kissing Marinette isn't a bad thing."

 _Judging from the way you're grinning I'd say it's the highlight of your young life._

" ** _Ah_** ," Marinette picked up the back wall of the temple, " ** _the other entrance into the tunnels. Come to me, Master Ankhhaf. I know you're in there_**." She reached her hand through the wall, vanishing into the entrance hidden behind hieroglyphics.

 _Master Ankhhaf can't run in his state!_

He and Bridgette were dropped off on one of the roof near the broken temple. "We'll get here away from the wall," Mercury assured them, "so get ready with the kissing and transforming stuff." He ran over to her and spun around her tall legs as Melodie and Kid Mime hopped into Damma's line of sight.

Chat Noir scratched his head. "Uh, how exactly do I kiss her when her lips are bigger than me? Whoa, what if she tries to swallow me whole while being possessed?! Then she'll never want to kiss me!"

"Believe me," Tikki replied, "you could be living in the sewers talking to rats and she'd still fluster at the mere thought of holding your hand, let alone kissing."

Bridgette gently placed the tattoo on the back of her left shoulder before taking a deep breath. "I can do this…I can do this…"

"You can," Felix gave her the best warm smile he could, "you're the only one who's come close to talking to him. I know you said it was because you don't have a miraculous, but maybe there was more to your interaction."

"…I talked to him like a regular person-er, Kwami," she admitted, "not as a threat but as a fellow living being."

"Then you're the only one he trusts in all of history," they watched Marinette turn to notice their presence on the rooftops, "and the only one who can end this. If we're lucky, it'll be for the better. If not…"

 **Trust me, the fighting is coming, but I wanted to get some more interaction between the Mythic and the others first. And yes, the temple has been broken, which means that history has been tampered with, but luckily we all know a certain heroine that can fix it all up. Now if only they could reach her...if they can't...well, history in the making, people.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	29. Losing Height But Gaining Face

" _ **There was no point to you following me**_ ," Damma yelled through the giant Marinette, the hieroglyphic wings nearly reaching into the clouds as cyclones began to form around the outer limits of the city again, " ** _there is nothing you can do to stop me. Are you truly so thick as to think there is more to this meaningless dispute_**?" She kicked Mercury into one of the shambled buildings and swatted Kid Mime away with a humongous baton. " ** _Once I have Ankhhaf I will stop the control of Kwami, and those few of us who live now will RULE_**."

"Damma," Bridgette yelled back, "Damma, listen to me! We can still talk about this, like you wanted to when you had possessed me!"

" _ **You cannot trick me in a false sense of security**_."

"I'm not trying to trick you," she pleaded, "I just want to talk! Don't you get how similar we are?! I'm the only one here without powers, and you're the only one without a miraculous! What's wrong with just _talking_?!"

Felix rarely saw Bridgette as determined as she was now. Marinette stepped out of the rumble of the temple and knelt by the roof, peering down at them skeptically. " ** _What is there to speak of? We have two very different opinions of what should be done with the Kwami. We will never agree_**."

Bridgette held her gaze. "Then one of us is going to have to give."

Marinette actually smirked. Grabbing Bridgette, Felix and Chat Noir she stood and flew into the clouds, the city disappearing below them and leaving Tikki behind. "Guys, wait for…me…"

Felix just managed to catch sight of Melodie calling out to them before everything went dark grey. With the moon hidden as well Marinette hovered in between a ceiling and floor of clouds in a silent world, her wings the only source of light. " ** _You wish to speak_** ," she flattened her palms out so the trio could stand and face her, " ** _so let us speak_**."

"Join me."

Felix was taken back by Bridgette's abruptness. "I can help you far better than Marinette. She's created a bond with a Kwami, but I've felt the power of being akumatized. I don't have any connections to a miraculous yet," she smiled like it was picture day, "so won't you trade places between me and Marinette?"

" _ **Prove it**_ ," Marinette frowned upon them, " ** _why should I trust you to be on my side rather than your friends'_**?"

Slowly Bridgette moved to Felix and Chat Noir, and wrapped them in a group hug. "You guys helped me through so much. Thank you, but…we're switching things up now."

Then she shoved them off the hands and into the open air.

"Ah," Chat Noir caught on fast, " _what?!_ "

 _I can't transform to save us_ , Felix thought as they hit the clouds, _we're going to hit the ground. We're going to die._

"FELIX!"

"…Ch," he glanced down, "Cheep?"

The tiny Quantic soared through the clouds and clung to him. "Transform _now_ , Felix, before you both fall!"

"I…Cheep, TAKE FLIGHT!"

With a quick spin he was into costume, able to grab his hook shot as the clouds opened up into the city below. "Chat Noir," he called out to his brother not far below him, "get ready!"

"Hold on," Chat grabbed his own baton and swung it to the roofs below, digging it into the nearest building, "okay!"

Sparrow reached out and grabbed Chat's hand as he hooked the end of the shot around the baton. They swung down and through the streets, finally able to jump down and stumble to a halt on the solid ground. "Well done," he congratulated Chat as his brother grabbed the baton, "where did you think that one up?"

"M'lady…," both looked to the sky, "what did Bridgette mean by switching things up?"

"Switching…the plan steps. You couldn't have kissed Marinette in her current form, so…"

"Felix," Melodie ran over, "we saw you falling, and…wait…"

 _Bridgette_ , Kid Mime signed as he and Mercury raced over to the group, _where did Bridgette go? Why is she missing again?!_

"The plan," Sparrow murmured, "our plan is out of control."

The clouds exploded apart, vanishing and letting the moon shine down on what remained of the temple. Master Ankhhaf crawled out of the wall with the tunnel entrance and made his way over to the heroes. "Master," Tikki flew over to him, "what's wrong?"

He spoke to her in a panicked tone. "Uh oh," the Kwami turned to them, "he's telling me that Damma may have one last ability no other Kwami does! He's not bound to a miraculous!"

"We know that already."

"Which means that he isn't bound to one partner!"

 _…He can have…more than one-_

Two figures dropped in front of the temple, and Sparrow got the worst feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Plan B," Mercury smacked his forehead, "we should have had a plan B."

" _ **You won't stop until we fight, will you**_?"

" _ **Then let us hold one final battle**_."

Damma spoke out of both Marinette and Bridgette, the two girls dressed in black suits and eye masks covered in the hieroglyphics. Their hair was flowing free in the winds as each held a crimson yo-yo. " ** _My preferred weapon_** ," they spoke at once, eyes shining, " ** _I will use it to finish off the Quantic Squad once and for all_**!"

"Good news," Chat Noir gulped, "she's not fifty feet anymore. Bad news – we've got two enemies on our hands!"

"And they've got five," Melodie gripped her bow sword in hand, "charge!" She was the first to lunge at Damma's duo, clashing with Bridgette and pushing them back into the temple ruins. Marinette jumped away and swung her yo-yo at Mercury, who zipped Ankhhaf out of her reach. "Any time, Chat Noir!"

Kid Mime created an invisible baseball bat and whacked her off her feet, but as soon as he touched the ground she pun on her hands, kicking him off balance and into a cart of fruit. She got to her feet and shifted the yo-yo into Lykanth's boomerang. " _ **I can free them, too**_ ," Damma rasped as she chucked the weapon at Sparrow,

" ** _the Quantic can be free of humanity_**!"

 **Alright, you guys have been more than patient enough, so we've got some serious fighting coming your way next chapter, because Damma is ready to unleash his anger on our heroes. With two girls under his control and Ladybug still out of commission, Sparrow is going to have to get Chat Noir to kiss his princess and snap her out of it quick, before the evil Kwami starts getting ideas...**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	30. Damma for Overlord?

Marinette's boomerang was inches from Sparrow's face before he thought to duck underneath, thus avoiding imminent pain and suffering as it spun over and back around him into her hands. "Two people under your control. Why, Damma?"

" _ **I may not be able to grow to my appropriate size when I hold possession over two hosts**_ -"

"Fifty feet is your _appropriate_ size?"

" _ **Kwami are not bound to the forms you've seen, hero**_ ," Marinette smirked, " ** _we have so much more that we are capable of_**."

"Don't lecture me, I'm a partner to a _Quantic_ , remember."

" ** _Having two hosts will allow me to be in two places at once_** …"

 _I'm not liking that look on Marinette's face._

"Let her go!" Chat Noir ran at Marinette, baton over his head. "She's not your puppet, and I won't let you use her anymore!" He clashed his baton against her boomerang in a parrying of swordsmanship. "Snap out of it, Marinette!"

Sparrow grabbed a dart and aimed at Marinette's feet. "GUM!" He fired, letting it landed an inch from her heel and spreading pink goop over her ankles and toes, until she was glued to the dirt. "Adrien, hurry, while she can't move!"

"But, the moment's not right-"

" ** _Fools_** ," Damma shifted the boomerang into Drako's blowgun and shot Chat Noir away from her with a blast of heat, " ** _your bad luck can't overcome my combined luck powers_**."

If he wasn't so worried Sparrow would have smacked his brother upside the head. "I don't care what the moment is like, we're in the middle of a fight! _Kiss_ her!"

"Guh," Melodie skid back on her side against the ground not far from them as Bridgette stood over her with Ladybug's yo-yo, "Mercury!"

"I got her," he ran over at the speed of sound, wrapping his arms around her, "release Bridgette, Damma!"

" ** _Shall I show you why I'm to be feared more than your measly villains_**?" Bridgette slipped out from Mercury's grasp and grabbed his ankle. " ** _I do not fight like you are children_**!"

 _Snap!_

"Ahhh," Mercury screamed, falling to the ground and cradling his ankle, " _ahh_!"

" ** _I fight to win, no matter my opponents. I have always fought to win the freedom my species deserves_**."

Melodie stood and ran at Bridgette, but she dipped to the left, spun around to Melodie's back and grabbed her long blonde braid. She yanked her onto her back and pulled the bow sword from her hands before snapping it over her knee.

"No," Melodie tried to use her siren screech, but Bridgette placed her foot on her neck, "gah-!"

Sparrow grabbed another dart and aimed at Bridgette. "Get off her, Damma. I'm warning you that if you don't, I will fire."

" _ **At your own friend**_?"

"FREEZE!" He fired for her chest.

Tink!

"?!" Sparrow saw her holding the peacock fan, blocking the dart and letting it harmlessly drop beside Melodie's head, but he didn't believe it. "The peacock weapon!"

" _ **You forget**_ ," Marinette sneered, " _ **I have absorbed the miraculous family Chat Noir belongs too, as well**_." And then she vanished out of the gum, gone with the wind like she was never there.

"An illusion," Chat gawked, "Sparrow, she's already used the fox miraculous' flute to create illusions! And they're stronger than before!"

 _Then how can we tell what's real and what's not?_

Kid Mime hopped up and used an invisible telescope to search the area. Bridgette was really there, but Marinette was nowhere to be found. Had she really been possessed after all?

"I can feel her," Tikki looked around with him, "but where did she go-?"

 _BAM!_

Marinette's yo-yo smacked right into Tikki, throwing the Kwami against a cold stone wall and to the ground. She stepped out of the shadows as Chat Noir ran to Tikki's side. " _ **Here, sister**_."

"Tikki," Chat gently stroked her head, "wake up, Tikki!" He glared at Marinette. "HawkMoth is as worse as they come and he never went this far!"

" _ **HawkMoth? He is just as much a fool as the rest of you**_ ," Damma slurred, " ** _however…he does have a certain style about him that may come in handy_**."

"W-What do you mean?"

Sparrow knew all too well what he meant. "You're going to control as many humans as possible and cause war to break out. That'll prove your point to all the Kwami around the world that humans can't be trusted. And if we're wiped out, they'll be no one to reveal your true motives anymore."

" ** _And I'll be starting here, right now_** ," Marinette shifted her weapon away and held long claws out, " ** _with you, Sparrow. CATACLYSM_**!" Her claws radiated with dark energy, and as she sliced she ran towards him. " ** _How shall the human body hold up against such power_**?"

 _It's not giving out_ , Sparrow jumped out of the way as she slashed at his hood, _so Damma can use the powers for longer. Good to know. Not a good thing, but good to know._

Kid Mime shifted his telescope into a hockey stick, sticking with the sports equipment style he had going on, and smacked the back of her ankles. She fell, clawing at dirt as her powers ran out. " ** _Imbecile_** ," Damma spat, " ** _if you wanted to be the first to die, you should have just asked_**."

Melodie was back up, taking on Bridgette and keeping her away from Mercury as he tried to stand on his now completely broken leg. Chat Noir picked Tikki up as Marinette turned to Kid Mime. Before he had a chance to block her with the hockey stick she brought her yo-yo out and whipped it at his forehead. As he stumbled back she shifted it into the turtle shield again and knocked him out. " ** _And now_** ," the shield became Yeti's dagger-ended rope, " ** _I begin a war against the humans_**."

"No!" Sparrow leaped off a building wall and into the air, ready to hook shot her away, but Marinette was ahead of his movement. She spun around, wrapping the rope around him and swinging him over them and smack into another building. "Ow."

" ** _Out of the way. He's made his choice_**." Damma took both ends of the rope, holding the daggers over Kid Mime's neck.

"Ben," Sparrow sat up, "wake up-"

 _Schlik._

 **Yeah, I really don't know how to describe that last sound effect, but whatever, you guys can tell that danger is brewing. And this isn't the end of the fighting, trust me, but with Damma looking to HawkMoth of all people for inspiration, it's time to start bringing this battle to a close before some sort of zombie outbreak by Kwami hypnosis begins!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	31. Return of the Mythical and Miraculous

_…Tikki!_

Flying between Kid Mime and Marinette the Kwami slipped the knives into one another at the last possible second, clanging them together harmlessly. "No war, Damma. No casualties. Don't you get it? You're the only person in the entire world who wants this…and to be honest, I don't even think it's what you really want."

" _ **What would you know about my desires? From the very beginning you all feared me, treated me like a monster**_."

"Because you did things to scare us! You acted like we were the enemy, and suddenly you think we want to join you? I'm sorry, Damma, but if you ever want to understand us, you're going to have to see the world the way we do."

Marinette flipped away from them. " ** _And to think that I'd hoped to knock some sense into you. I will never be bound to a miraculous_**!"

"Obviously you didn't look at Bridgette too closely when you possessed her again," Sparrow stood and walked over beside Chat Noir, "but she has something you might want to have a closer inspection of."

"Whaaaaaaaa-" Melodie and Mercury came flying towards them, thrown by Bridgette from the broken temple, "Sparrow!" She fell into his arms as Mercury collided with Chat Noir.

"Oof!"

"Ye-ouch!"

Sparrow couldn't help but smirk. "This is more like it."

Melodie rolled her eyes and hopped to her feet as Bridgette cackled. " ** _I don't care how you think you prepared yourselves for me_** ," Damma sighed, " ** _she has no powers and no miraculous, so what can she possibly do_** -?" She held her head in her hands and shook it. " ** _Ah…a headache…w-wait_** ," she turned her back to them, " _ **what is this sensation**_?!"

The skull-shaped tattoo miraculous glowed underneath the black suit, as bright as the sun that was setting on the horizon. "It's working," Mercury whooped, "he's being bound to the miraculous you made, Felix!"

"Master Ankhhaf made it, actually."

"But you helped! Copyright is ours!"

 _Oh gosh._

" _ **No**_ ," Marinette was shaking now, too, " _ **I…won't…let…you**_!"

"Chat Noir, now!"

Chat dropped Mercury against the fruit cart and ran over to her, holding her up by her shoulders. "I…I…"

"Just do it, Adrien," Sparrow groaned, "or would you rather one of us try?!"

"F-Felix," he stammered, "q-quiet! Okay, Marinette, I…uh…," he looked deep into her glare, "…I'm sorry I never got to ask your permission!"

Then he pulled her in and kissed her. Pretty well for a guy whose last kiss had been on the cheek of a tiny Chloe at a birthday party, hopped up on cupcake icing. Marinette's eyes widened before slowly closing, dulling back to a deep blue as her black outfit steadily vanished, revealing her normal clothing underneath.

"Alright, I'll admit it," Sparrow whispered to Melodie so the others wouldn't hear, "I may have been underestimating the magical fairy tale ending kiss too much."

"You're my fairy tale ending."

"…A-hem."

"You know you love me."

"…Adrien," Marinette opened her eyes and looked around in confusion, "w-what happened? I remember taking Damma, and…d-did," her cheeks were on fire as Chat Noir's ears twitched spastically, "did we just…you and I…w-w-we…w-w-w-wow!"

 _Ouch_ , Kid Mime signed from the ground before noticing Marinette, _hello. Nice to have you back. Where's Bridgette?_

" _ **FOOLS**_!"

"Yikes," someone said behind them, "sounds like he's been taking tantrum lessons from Gigas."

"Larisse," Marinette grinned as she and the others joined the group, "you're okay!"

" _We're_ okay?" Tani chuckled. "How about you? Last time we saw you Damma was at the wheel of your brain."

"I'm fine," Sparrow could have sworn she slipped closer to Chat, "thanks to my partner…Tikki," she hugged the Kwami tight, "you were here the whole time. Thank goodness."

"Now Ladybug can return, right?"

"Do we need her?"

" ** _FOOLS_**!"

"Oh," they all turned to the temple, "right."

Bridgette was on her knees, covering her ears. " ** _I won't give up my freedom to a mere human! I am the strongest, and I will keep us all safe – I…no…don't leave me! AHHHHH_**!" She screamed as all the miraculous bust from her suit, flying right back into the hands of their owners. Larisse and the others quickly slipped theirs on as past Tikki and Plagg flew over to Sparrow with their family of miraculous and Kwami.

"Quickly," present Tikki told them in Egyptian, "return to Master Ankhhaf! He's at the edge of the city somewhere, but make sure to stay out of sight!"

"By the well," Mercury pointed back, "I took him there, out of Damma's reach."

A humongous shadow was looming out of Bridgette's back, humanoid with a pair of peering white eyes. " ** _No more_** ," it was Damma, his voice booming from the giant, " ** _no more resisting! I've waited thousands of years for success, and I won't let you TAKE IT AWAY_**!"

"Alright, Mythic," Neo held his wrist with the wolf bracelet up, "let's finish this guy off once and for all. Luunar, PHASE IN!"

"Oh, yes," Drako said as the group slipped into their costumes, expanding his wings out for a stretch, "back in action, baby! Hey, Mercury, not looking so good there."

"Oh, really? Get me to Ankhhaf. His healing powers can fix me up like he did with Ben, but we'd better hurry." They flew off as Foinix pointed to the sky. "Grypas, keep to the air. We've got plenty of power on the ground."

Grypas nodded and flew up as Damma's shadow raises its hands. Cyclones burst from the ground and circled the city. "Keep within these inner streets," she warned them, "the radius of the cyclones has expanded to reach most of the city!"

"Once Mercury and Drako come back we'll have ten heroes," Lykanth glanced at Marinette, "but that can become eleven."

She smirked. "Tikki, SPOTS ON!" Her red and black spotted suit and mask sparkled into existence, and with a stretch she was back to normal. Well, except for the way she blushed when Chat gave a whistle.

"Twelve heroes," Sparrow reminded the group, "us here and Bridgette working at binding him to the miraculous. I've had enough of the Egyptian heat, so let's take care of this, shall we?"

 **All the costumed heroes are back and ready to take Damma down, so let's have ourselves a good old final battle with this delusional Kwami. I'm sorry if Marinette and Adrien's kiss seemed to quick and out of nowhere, but to be honest I don't expect much time to be given to their first ever kiss. I have a feeling HawkMoth will be intervening before they can enjoy it for too long.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	32. The Walking Damma

"So, I know it's a bit of a cliché," Lykanth smiled, "but can I call this a final boss?"

"If he's the final boss," Yeti moaned, "then let's say I _hated_ the unnecessary three first forms. Not a fan of overcomplicated battles."

" _ **ALL THE POWER WILL BE MINE**_ ," Damma now spoke in a constant scream, " ** _ALL THE KWAMI WILL FOLLOW MY RULES_**!"

 _All those within earshot will go deaf._

Ladybug stepped forward. "If we shake ourselves up, we shake Damma up. Girls at the front, boys at the back. Ready, Chat Noir?"

He held his baton up. "Ready when you are, my lovely lady."

It was an odd work of improvisation that kept Damma from predicting their movements. Ladybug led Melodie, Foinix and Grypas in the sky towards the giant Kwami as Chat took Sparrow, Lykanth and Kid Mime along the rooftops, Mercury and Drako catching up as they reached the temple. Bridgette was knelt over beneath Damma, eyes open and blank as he foamed out of the tattoo miraculous.

 _He's beginning to bond, but we can't tell how long it'll take before Bridgette can force him into a transformation._

"Damma," Melodie called out, "down here!" She picked her bow sword up and swung it, sending a blast of piano music right at his chest – and right through him. "What?"

Grypas threw the bouncing ball but it phased through him, as well. "We can't touch him with our weapons?!"

 _A shadow_ , Kid Mime signed to Sparrow, _make is solid!_

"Excellent deduction," Sparrow grabbed another dart and fired at Damma's side, "STONE!" He'd never tried it before, but as the dart flew through the shadow it exploded on impact with the change in the air, encasing Damma in stone. However, it also encased Bridgette, and soon she was part of the statue. Kid Mime shot him a look. "Uh, oops."

"Much better," Drako grabbed his blowgun as Lykanth took his boomerang off, "let's go all out on this stone cold monster!" He began spit firing at Damma's head as Lykanth let his boomerang fly at his chest. "You go, girls!"

Sparrow would never understand how women could somehow laugh at the same time in the same pitch, but it was nice to have their spirits lifted. Foinix and Ladybug wrapped their ribbons and yo-yo around his neck and spun round and round and round in the air. "Wheeee!"

 _Since when did this become a circus ride?_

Mercury raced right up on top of Damma's head, looking around. "I'm counting ten cyclones closing in, people. Should I give them a run for their money or what?"

"Leave them to me," Grypas grinned, "I've been training." She held the bouncing ball over her head, and it zipped away to the city limits and started circling the entire area, faster and faster until it matched the force of the cyclones.

"A girl who can fight of an army of cyclones," Mercury cocked an eyebrow, "impressive. Which is impressive coming from the greatest speedster of this generation."

Yeti and Kid Mime took to his arms, using the dagger rope and an invisible battle axe to slice them off as shadow began to stream out into the cloudy sky. Ladybug and Foinix spun once more before yanking back on the ribbons and yo-yo, popping the stone head off as Mercury jumped safely to the ground. "Well," he admitted as he took a look at what remained, "he's starting to look like a real Greek artifact."

The stone was cracking, shadow pouring out like smoke from every tiny crevice. They reached out line tendrils into the farthest reaches of the city. "They're going somewhere," Lykanth murmured, "but what is Damma looking for…?"

"Hold on a moment," Mercury raced through the city, scouring underneath the reach of the tendrils before sliding back beside him, eyes wide, "guys, guys, guys, z-z-z-z-"

"Spit it out, Mercury!"

" _Zombies_!"

The citizens of the city were slowly hobbling back towards the temple, untouched by the cyclones as Grypas' bouncing ball spun overhead. They had blank stares and gave out low moans. "Damma," Grypas stammered, "h-he's already taken them o-over!"

"We need to be quick," Chat Noir said, "Ladybug!"

"LUCKY CHARM!" She stood on the ground in front of Bridgette and caught a red and black spotted box. "This is a-"

" _ **Full control**_."

The stone cracked and rained down on Ladybug. " ** _This city is under my full control, and I won't let you go where you want any longer_**."

"Mythic," Foinix called out, "we've got to keep the citizens away for their own safety! Create a perimeter!"

 _We can help_ , Kid Mime and Mercury joined them, _and time is running out._

"We're here for you guys," Melodie and Sparrow took to Chat Noir and Ladybug's sides, "so let's use that charm to fix all of this."

Ladybug looked around as Damma freed himself from the stone prison, swaying over them and covering the moonlight. "I might just have a good enough plan." She smiled when Chat Noir took her free hand. "Melodie, distract Damma long enough for Sparrow to freeze him again. On my mark, Chat, you'll use your cataclysm."

"And the charm?"

"Has its purpose. Go!"

"The cyclones are growing bigger," Grypas yelled, "do it _now_!"

Melodie ran around behind Damma. "Back here, crazy Kwami!" She swung her bow sword, smacking rhythmic beats into his head, not worrying about how they weren't doing any damage. "I've got an entire orchestra waiting for you down here!"

" _ **You can't harm me in this state, so do not bother wasting your energy**_."

Sparrow hook shot the opposite building, quickly glancing over Mythic as they kept the controlled citizens at bay. He flung himself up into the air and fired another dart into Damma's shoulders. "FREEZE!"

As Damma reached down for Melodie the ice took over, turning him into an arched sculpture that shimmered with sparkles. "I wouldn't call myself an artist," Sparrow noted, "but I'll admit there's a certain charm to pieces like this."

No sooner had he said so that it began to crack. "Keep back," Ladybug held the spotted box out, "Chat Noir and I have got this."

 **Ladybug has a plan, but what can a music box do against this great shadow? And will Bridgette be able to bond Damma to the tattoo miraculous in time before the entire city is overrun by ZOMBIES?! I mean, I already know the answer...but you guys have to be kept in suspense, because I'm cruel like that ;)**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	33. Music To All Our Ears

Felix was not quick to jealousy, not as he used to be, but watching his brother and Marinette together in battle as Chat Noir and Ladybug was an envious act that would have any sane hero giving a whistle. Melodie flipped back, further into the temple ruins, while his brother stole the show. "Hey, Damma," he climbed up the Kwami's back and onto his head, "I think it's time for a long, long nap, don't you?" He jumped high into the air. "CATACLYSM!"

" _ **No, wait**_ -!"

Chat spun down and slashed right through the ice and shadow, gracefully landing in the middle of the cluster of chunks. Damma was half his size now, crawling around Bridgette as if trying to protect her. " _ **None of you…can…beat me**_."

"Not alone," Ladybug reminded him as she walked over and hugged Bridgette, "but you can't stop us when we're together."

The shadow encased the girls in a dome of darkness, and for a few seconds everything in the city was silent, even the zombified citizens keeping Mythic so busy. Then Sparrow heard the music, sweet and gentle. It swept out of the shadowy dome and through the air as the cyclones ceased, vanishing with the warm winds of the desert. Little by little the residents of the city returned to normal, blinking and looking around with great astonishment.

 _They're free of Damma's control_ , Sparrow thought, _which means that he's losing power!_

The dome fell, Marinette holding Bridgette in one arm and the spotted box in another. It had opened to reveal a smaller Ladybug spinning on her toes, a mirror behind her as a lullaby streamed out and a tiny handle turned. "A music box…"

Without opening her eyes Bridgette stood and stepped away from Marinette. "…D," she spoke quietly, "Damma, beast release."

The black suit she worse shifted until she wore a one-sleeve, one leg bodysuit with a cut-out revealing the skull tattoo on the back of her shoulder, dark than Chat Noir's. Her hair was in two long pigtails again, the eye mask had sharper edges, and as her blue eyes opened a tiny rectangular satchel popped up on her hip.

"Welcome back, hero," Ladybug playfully punched her shoulder, "and thanks for talking to him from the inside."

"It would have never work had you not used the music to calm him down. So, you can fix all this," she gestured to the temple remains, "right?"

"With a bit of help," Foinix ran over with Kid Mime, who was all too eager to grab a costumed Bridgette and hug her tight, "I've got an ability to help fix it up, too."

Ladybug smiled. "Then let's finally clean this up." She tossed the music box high into the air as a wings emblem glowed on Foinix's back. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

"REBIRTH!"

A great phoenix of flames spouted off of Foinix as thousands of ladybugs burst from the lucky charm. They spun around the phoenix as it spread its wings and screeched, and together they exploded in a blend of sparkles and harmless flames that spread through the entire city and reaching out into the desert's distance. Sparrow shielded his eyes before taking a look around as the flames vanished. "…It's…it's finished."

The temple had been rebuilt, and the fruit cart Kid Mime had fallen into was back in one piece, all the food inside back to normal. He jumped off the roof as everyone regrouped, the city citizens chattering with one another, nerves high.

"We did it," Yeti jumped up and down, " _we did it_!"

Chat ran over, grabbed Ladybug by the waist, raised her up, and spun her around. "That was amazing! We finally defeated Damma!"

"And you," she placed her hands on his shoulders, "you broke the curse he held over me. My prince in…uh…shining superhero suit."

 _Poetic._

Grypas placed the bouncing ball back in her satchel as two more Kwami peeked out from behind a wooden barrel. "You two can come out now," she held her hands out towards them, "Chimma and Gorry."

 _Gigas and Chimaira's Kwami partners!_

Chimma and Gorry slipped over into her arms. "It's alright now," she hugged them, "we're going to find you proper partners…speaking of which, what should we do about Professor Yilmaz and Peri? Aren't they still in ancient Greece?"

"We're going to have enough trouble getting back to our own time," Lykanth sighed, "let alone trying to find a way to get back to that exact point. I'm sorry, Grypas, but…I don't think we can get to them."

"Let them stay there," Sparrow crossed his arms, "think of it as a punishment for their crimes. How about Damma? Is he really under control, Bridgette?"

"It's hard to explain," she admitted, "I can feel his energy coursing through me, and when I said "beast release", it was just something I'd made up on the spot. You know, like how you all have cool catchphrases to transform. He's in the tattoo, I know it, but…well, we'll just have to see how it goes when I de-transform."

 _People noticing_ , Kid Mime signed, _we should go._

The citizens were coming towards them in huge crowds, obviously looking for answers that they couldn't give without knowing the language. Sparrow grabbed one last dart and fired it at their feet. "SMOKE BOMB!"

Smoke filled the street at each of them de-transformed, save for Bridgette, who led the way back to the temple and up against the fixed back wall. "Everyone grab a Kwami!"

As soon as they were all in the secret tunnels and down on the flat ground, surrounded by the torches, Lyra placed a big kiss on Felix's cheek. "Thanks."

"For what? You all did so much more than me."

"You're the brains of the operation here, silly. I mean, sure, we're all smart in our own ways, but-"

"Don't get sappy with me. Its fine…you're welcome."

"So, uh, guys?" Victor was at the head of the group with Benjamin and Bridgette. "I don't suppose anyone knows how to activate the time travel thingy, do they?"

Awkward silence.

"…I was afraid of that."

 **Two chapters in one day, because you guys are special and deserve another one for all your patience :D So they've defeated Damma at long last and Gigas is no longer a menace, YAY! Now all they have to do is somehow figure out how to utilize their powers and time travel back home without losing one another...you know, the everyday troubles of miraculous and Quantic superheroes.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	34. A Problematic Purple

"How hard can activating time travel be?"

If he hadn't been as worried as he was, Felix would have knocked Neo's head against the tunnel walls. Lucky for him Larisse was one step ahead, planting his brown bangs into the dirt. "Ow, ow, okay. So if we can't activate it, how do we get home?"

"Sh," Sunne hushed them, "do you hear that? There's…footsteps! In the main chamber! That has to be-"

"Master Ankhhaf," they all said in unison, a wondrous act of encouragement in a group of twenty-three people, "he's here!" They ran down the long tunnel and into the open area with the table. "Master Ankhhaf!"

Ankhhaf rested against the table, the other Kwami floating around his head and cheering in Egyptian. "You're okay," Tikki and Plagg hugged him, "we sure are glad to be able to see you before we leave."

"Uh, _if_ we leave," Neo reminded them as he brushed dirt out of his hair, "we still need to find out how to time travel, since it apparently isn't as easy as I thought it'd be."

Plagg translated their problem to Ankhhaf, who looked the Mythic's Kwami over before explaining something to him. "Really? Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, guys, let's hold each other's hands."

Stephan took Tani's hand. "I'm liking this plan."

"No, seriously," Plagg pointed to the table, "I'm talking Greek, American, Greek, American…you get the pattern. Kwami and Quantic, sit on the heads of your partners." He flew down onto Adrien's as he held Isra and Neo's hands. "Like this, Master Ankhhaf?"

Ankhhaf nodded and gently pulled the past Kwami out of the way. "This is it, guys," Plagg gave him a quick wave, "now Sunne, you and the others need to focus on each other's life energies. That includes you two," he pointed at Chimma and Gorry sitting on Bridgette's head, "only you guys can time travel."

 _If they can time travel_ , Felix wondered, _then what can the other Kwami families possibly do? What could possibly be as powerful and dangerous as messing with history?_

"Focus," Beaak closed his eyes, "focus…on each other…"

"Hey," Marinette awed, "they're glowing! Like little multicolored lanterns!"

Sunne, Gemme, Beaak, Snowyy and Luunar shone with an inner light as the chamber began to slowly spin. Ankhhaf said something Felix couldn't understand. "Hold tight," Tikki warned them, "or you'll get blown out into another time period!"

Their feet no longer touched the ground. "We're floating," Isra laughed, "We're actually flying! This feels great!"

 _Says the superhero who can FLY._

"Here we go," Adrien glanced at Ankhhaf, who was waving at them, "thank you! I know you can't understand, but we couldn't have done this without you!"

"Wonderful," Bridgette held onto Felix's hand tightly, "we can finally get Adrien home and…uh…uh," she winced, "my shoulder…it h-hurts…ah!" Before she could do anything her hand slipped out of Felix's. "D-Damma is-"

In the last surge of energy Felix lost hold of Larisse's hand. "Felix," Lyra screamed, "no-"

 _ZAP!_

* * *

 _…Why do I taste the colour purple?_

Felix sucked in his breath to keep from making an audible groan and staggered to his feet. He was in a dark room, Cheep hanging limply off his head. He gently grabbed him and held him close as he tried to let his vision adjust without light. The sound of fluttering was almost too loud for him to hear his own thoughts.

 _We're not alone in here-!_

He kept to the corner of the room, hiding in the shadows as someone walked into the room from a secret door, casting light into the place.

Filled with butterflies.

And his father.

 _What?_

Mr. Agreste let the door close behind him as he walked to the center of the room. "Nooroo," he called out, "DARK WINGS, RISE!"

 _What._

"I sense the broken heart of an endearing artist."

A small window opened on the opposite wall, letting sunlight into the room as the purple masked figure and his glowing white butterflies basked in its shine. Felix's eyes couldn't have been wider, and his heart couldn't have felt so cold.

"…F-Father?"

Just as the masked figure glanced his way he felt a sharp tug in his gut, and he flung back, through the wall and back into complete darkness.

* * *

"Wake up, Felix, please!"

He bolted up, smacking his forehead into Lyra's. "Ouch," she sat back, rubbing her head as he looked around, "glad to have you back."

"What an entrance," Stephan sighed, "and where exactly did you go, anyway?"

They were back in the Catacombs, as seen by all the skulls around them, but with so little light that's all he could see. "How are we going to get out of here without a guide or any sort of direction?"

"Simple," Snowyy replied as she and the other Greek Kwami glowed, "we can still light the path without time travelling."

"How?"

"Magic."

 _Oh. Okay. I'm done asking questions._

The entire group stood in one of the larger chambers of the Catacombs as Isra opened a backpack she'd picked up from the ground. "I'm so sorry I let go, Felix," Bridgette gave him a quick hug, "it felt like Damma was trying to rip my arm off. Luckily we were able to pull you back before we completely lost you and Cheep in another time…so…did you see anything before we brought you with us?"

He hadn't meant to look Adrien's way. "…Felix?"

"…Nothing. I saw nothing."

"Quick, in here," Isra let the Kwami and Quantic slip into the backpack that she slung over her shoulders, "I think this is one of the ones we dropped while looking for Adrien. Tee-hee," she pointed at the light yellow fabric, "it's still glowing."

It was like someone had stuck a bunch of glow sticks inside. "Sweet," Victor took it off her back and had her wear her on her stomach, "a light to guide us."

"Then let's get out of here," Larisse took the lead with Isra, giving the group a big grin, "we did it guys…we made it home."

 **Isn't it nice to be back in the present, surrounded by skulls and bones and wandering around aimlessly? Beats having to fight evil Kwami in ancient Egypt, am I right? Gosh this story is longer than I thought it was going to be. It's going to be my longest one yet, beating out "Dance of the Empress" by a couple chapters before I wrap things up.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	35. Really, Chloe, Really

"You know," Bridgette said as the group walked back along the Catacombs of present Paris, "after all we've faced these past few…centuries, skulls aren't so bad anymore. I think we'll all grown braver from this experience."

 _Also_ , Ben's signs were just visible in the glow of the Kwami from inside Isra's backpack, _you've got a suit like us now._

"That, too. Speaking of which," she looked herself over, "what happens when I de-transform and Damma is able to float around? Will we be able to keep him under control, or is this suit a one-time thing for me?"

Felix looked over at her. "Did you want it to be more than that?"

Even with how little light they had he could see her blushing as she averted her gaze. "…I don't know…I guess fighting with you guys seemed…pretty amazing of an idea…o-or dumb. Yeah, dumb. I get it."

"No, it's not dumb."

"R-Really?"

"Hey," Adrien shushed them, "do you guys hear something? Like…footsteps and yelling, not too far ahead in the Catacombs…I think someone's looking for us!" The group ran ahead until they came to a split in the tunnel, surprised to find Chloe Bourgeois slowly turning around with a lantern in her hand. "C-Chloe?!"

She gasped and dropped the lantern. "Adrien," she ran over and wrapped him in a huge hug, tears in her eyes, "I was so worried about you! Where have you been?! Are you hurt?! It's okay, you're safe now! I'm never going to let you out of my sights ever again!"

The second surprise came as Natalie, racing down the tunnel with a flashlight. "Adrien, Felix," she hugged them before regaining her composure and brushing her bangs behind her ear, "your father has been searching for you for hours now. If it weren't for Chloe's tip about the Catacombs we may have been searching until nightfall."

"Sorry to make you all worry so much," Adrien said as they made their way to the stairs by the exit, "but Felix and the others found me down here, and then we got lost."

Isra pat her backpack so the Kwami would stop glowing as they walked out into the late afternoon sunlight of Paris, where a crowd of their classmates were waiting. "Marinette," Alya and Lila ran over to her, "you're back!"

"Why didn't you respond to either of our texts?"

She blushed. "I was just so focused on finding Adrien that I, uh, forgot. My bad."

 _Hold on_ , Felix glanced back at the entrance to the Catacombs, _where's Bridgette?_

Making sure no one noticed him, all eyes on Adrien and Marinette, he slipped into the Catacombs and stepped down to the bottom of the stairs, where Bridgette stood in a sulking position. "Aren't you coming?"

"Out in this outfit? If I do, they'll know that we're connected to Ladybug and Chat Noir, and if I de-transform, Damma will be free."

"You can force him to stay in the miraculous, at least until we have time to talk to him about his new residence."

After a moment she nodded, and her outfit flashed away in a puff of dark cloud. "Okay, he's in the tattoo," she smiled, "hopefully he won't try to twist my arm again."

Benjamin and his cousin Nathanael joined them in the Catacombs. "Marinette is telling everyone about how you got lost down here," the redhead waved his own flashlight around, "I hope it wasn't too scary. At least you were all together, right?"

Bridgette took Ben's hand and walked out with him. "Nathanael," Felix would go crazy if he didn't ask, "Ben told me you were akumatized…when exactly was that?"

He shrugged. "A few months ago, not too long after school had started by way before summer break began. I don't remember much, other than…well," he averted his gaze, "kidnapping Marinette for a…anyway," he coughed into his sleeve, "why do you ask?"

 _An endearing artist._

"…No reason. Curiosity, I guess."

 _…No one can know…but Adrien…how could I ever…father…_

* * *

 **~THAT NIGHT~**

Felix and Adrien were kept inside the mansion, as requested-er, _commanded_ by their father. Lyra, Ben, Victor and Bridgette would stay at Marinette's house for a bigtime sleepover thanks to her parents, and Neo's rich uncle had gotten rooms for him, Larisse, Tani, Isra and Stephan at the Bourgeois Hotel.

"I understand why father is being protective," Adrien sighed, falling onto his bed as Plagg and Cheep hung out by the computer, "but _really_? Did he have to lock the front door and put up the security measures?"

Felix sat in his desk chair, checking the messages on his phone and answering all the questions his other classmates in America had sent over the past day or so. "Don't mind him, he'll forget I exist by tomorrow morning and I'll be able to sneak away."

"Don't be that way."

"Would you rather we be trapped in the mansion for the next decade of our lives?"

"We told him all we could," his brother sat up, "how I was kidnapped by burglars and hidden in the Catacombs, and then you found me and we got lost, and we lost the burglars during the chase, and then Chloe found us and took all the credit."

 _That's supposed to come as a surprise?_

A knock at the door. Gabriel walked in, keeping the door open. "Good evening. You should be getting your rest after such a long day."

Plagg and Cheep hid behind the large computer screens as Adrien smiled. "Yeah, I am pretty tired. How about you, Felix?"

"Agreed," he didn't bother to glance back, "good night, father."

"…Good night," he left the room as Adrien shook his head.

"What?"

"Be nicer, Felix. Please? For me?"

 _I would, but…_

He stood and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Sweet dreams, Adrien. You may sleep here tonight, Cheep."

"Uh, okay," his brother gave him a wave, "night, Felix…and thanks for coming."

 _I have to know_ , he stood in the dark hall, catching his breath, _if what I saw…was real._

 **What? ANOTHER day with two chapters? My, we're on a roll here. And don't think that just because Felix and the others are back that things are going to be quiet for long, because I've still got a few loose ends to wrap up, don't I? From detective work to superhero fighting, these last few chapters are set to make this one of my favourite fanfics to write yet!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	36. Detective Felix on the Case

His search had to start at the office. He didn't know why, nor did he commonly trust nothing but his instinct, but as he walked towards the doors of his father's private office it somehow felt…right. The correct answer laid beyond those doors. Carefully he peeked in to find his father currently out, giving him the chance to slip inside and shut the doors behind him. He wouldn't lock them. It'd only draw attention.

It was a simple office filled to the brim with pictures of Adrien and clothing sketches, lining the walls and desks. He scoured over the pages of cancelled interviews, orders for special edition articles and fan letters scrunched up and tossed into the overflowing garbage bin. Overall, nothing had really changed since he'd moved out.

 _There has to be something here to prove I'm wrong_ , Felix thought as he moved to the wall nearest the shielded windows, the only light coming from a table lamp, _but nothing seems…?_

His gaze fell to another painting his mother, similar to the golden one in the room beside the front doors of the mansion. She sat on a stone bench outside in a beautiful garden of black roses, wearing a long blue gown that slipped off her shoulders at just the right angle. Her long blonde hair slipped behind her shoulders, and her eyes pierced whoever laid eyes upon the art. It was a look he wasn't used to seeing from her.

"…"

 _This painting should be in the library. Why did father move it here?_

Curious, he placed his hands against the frame and gently pulled. The picture clicked and opened like a door, revealing an elevator behind. "What the…?" He pressed the button to go up and waited.

 _Ding._

It was the quietest elevator he'd ever barely heard. The door slid open, and despite the screaming in the back of his mind he entered, pulling the painting back in front as the door closed, and he began to rise.

 _There is no attic in the mansion_ , he tried to reason what was happening, _not that I've ever known of. Father wouldn't hide this from us…he wouldn't…_

The elevator stopped and opened into a dark room, the light unable to reveal anymore more than the steel floor. He walked out as the doors closed, enveloping him in darkness. He was about to start feeling around for a light switch when a round window began to open up across from him, letting in moonlight.

 _I hear fluttering-?!_

The room was filled with white butterflies, flying around him and the other figure standing in the room. He wasn't alone. He gawked at the stranger gazing out the window at Paris, seemingly lost in thought. At least from the shape of their figure he knew it wasn't his father standing in costume. "…Who are you?"

They turned, giving him a good look at their dark blue bodysuit and feathery cape, a mask covering most of their slim face. The oddest part was the peacock fan they held over their scarlet lips as they spoke a single word.

"Felix?"

 _That voice…where have I heard that voice before?_

The eyes on the mask gleamed red as the window opened and part of the glass flipped away like a wing. "Hey," he ran forward as the caped figure jumped out into the night, "stop right there!" He reached the window and with a huge leap grabbed the edge, hauling himself up to look out over Paris. "…Drat."

Whoever they were they were gone, out of his sight. Reluctantly he slipped back into the room, closing the window as he hit the floor. The butterflies congregated by the moonlight that streamed in, as if trying to escape.

 _I would too if I were trapped up here. Who cares for them? Where did they come from? And that person…did I really just encounter the peacock miraculous holder?_

The window began to close as he heard the elevator rising. the glass was covered by a metal slip again. Someone was coming up into the room. Felix ducked into the darkest corner closest to the doors as they slid open and someone stepped out.

 _F-Father?!_

It was in fact Gabriel Agreste, carrying some form of liquid in a canister they he brought over to something in the other corner of the room.

 _Even without the elevator light he knows where to go, like he's memorized this entire room. So he does know it's here. But if that wasn't him in the cape, what point is there to being up here with all these…butterflies…oh, no…_

It all came back to him. He was hiding in the very room he'd been in when he's nearly gotten lost in the time travel. He was feeding his butterflies. "Here we go," he heard his father murmur to himself as the butterflies gathered around him at some sort of feeder, "now stay quiet while my sons sleep."

"Master," one of the butterflies spoke, "what if we've missed the meeting already? She may have left."

"So be it," he snapped, "stay calm, Nooroo. She'll be back with further instructions."

 _Instructions. That person…was my father's boss? No, she was…HawkMoth's boss. I have to get out of here before he notices, or else he'll…he'll…_

He moved without much thought. Ducking into the elevator he shut the doors behind him, just hearing the gasp of his father as he descended. As soon as he reached the office he slammed the painting over the doors and booked it down the hall, back to his room. Just in time, too, because as he shut his own door the office doors swung open, and heavy footsteps neared his room. He sat at his desk and grabbed _Frankenstein_ as the door opened and Gabriel walked in. "Ever hear of knocking, father?"

"Strange," his father replied with a cold stare, "I was going to ask the very same thing."

"What do you mean?"

He kept as best a straight face as he could, but his father had a certain air about him when he wanted something out of you, and it was near impossible to break free once you were trapped in his angry sights. "Felix."

"…"

 **I always wondered if the peacock miraculous holder had more to do with HawkMoth than just having some strange relation to his wife (does she even know about it? Maybe season 2 will have the answers), but what if they were together? I saw something Thomas apparently posted about her maybe being his boss and thought "yeah, that'd be pretty cool!" So...why not? Now I won't be touching La Paon anymore in this story, but it's nice to add her in to make the story that much more believable. That and I really like her design.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	37. Gosh Dangit Gabriel

_Ding._

A text on his phone. He checked it as his father stood in the doorway of his bedroom, waiting for an answer he wasn't going to get. It was Victor, telling him how Marinette had spent the last two hours telling them about Adrien. Apparently she had an extensive crush on his brother. Including his schedule.

 _Uh…_

"Felix," his father rubbed the bridge of his nose, "we need to talk."

"About what," he asked as he texted Victor back to talk further in the morning, "because I've been reading for the last half an hour and would prefer some descent sleep over having another father to son chat with you."

"You and I both know you weren't in here reading five minutes ago."

"Alright, I'll admit it," he had to keep from smirking, "I often lose myself to the world of the novel. How does that affect your night, father?"

Seeing that he wasn't going to be getting anywhere with his son, Gabriel began to close the door behind him as he entered the dark hallway. "For your sake, and for Adrien's, you will say nothing about what you've seen tonight."

"How passive-aggressive of you, Hawk-"

 _Slam._

The door cut him off. His father's footsteps returned to the office, where the doors slammed shut as well. Felix put his book down, moved to his bed and flopped onto the blankets, letting out a long moan. It had not been his day today.

"Felix?" Cheep phased through the wall and floated over beside his face. "I waited until I knew your father was gone. Why did he sound so mad? You didn't say anything to get him all riled up again, did you?"

 _He didn't hear our conversation._

"…My bad," he laid on his back, "I told him that I'm going to marry Lyra and he decided to put on a pouty face."

"You can be silly when you want to." The Quantic nestled up in his feathers on one side of the pillow and quickly fell asleep. Felix was soon to join him, slipping into his pajamas and under the covers. It took him far longer to close his eyes, though, his thoughts racing.

 _Gabriel Agreste is HawkMoth, and he works for the peacock miraculous holder. Now he knows that I know who he is, and if I tell anyone it could put so many people in danger…I'm an intruder now…this isn't the Quantic Squad's fight…_

* * *

 **~THE NEXT MORNING~**

Everyone met up at the airport at about eleven, standing by the large windows as the next plane to Athens, Greece readied to take off. "I wish we could have stayed longer," Larisse gave Lyra and Bridgette a big hug, "but Neo's uncle want us home in case of an alien invasion or zombie breakout."

"What?"

"He's a _teeny_ bit paranoid."

"Besides," Stephan pointed at Isra's purse, "we've got to find two more heroes to take the mantle of Chimaira and Gigas before we lose them again. I wonder what Yilmaz and Peri are up to in ancient Greece, anyway?"

"Let's not think too much into the subject," Neo gestured to the plane, "our ride's about to leave."

Marinette bowed. "Thank you for coming and helping us get Adrien – and Chat Noir – back from Damma and the others. It's been a blast working with Mythic like this."

"Thank you," Isra replied with a grin, "next time we come I promise it'll probably not be because of some dangerous precognitive dream I've had."

 _Sounds legitimate._

Adrien shook Stephan's hand. "Until the next time."

"You got it." He pat Victor and Benjamin on the back before grabbing his luggage and leading the others away, waving the whole way through the tunnel into the plane entrance. Felix and the others watched as the plane took off and into the pearly clouds. "Gee," Bridgette sighed, "I wish we could have had more time to get to know them better. They seem like a really cool group of people."

"Oh, man," Victor smacked his head, "and I forgot to ask what happened at the Acropolis on their first mission! I bet it was an awesome fight we missed."

"The Quantic Squad has cool fights, too."

"Wow! I never would have guessed."

"Meanie," she stuck her tongue out, "so, what's next for us?"

"We could all go on patrol," Marinette offered as she slid closer to Adrien, "it'll be good for Paris to know Ladybug and Chat Noir are together again."

"Together?"

"U-U-Uh, I mean, you know, as p-partners!"

"Oh…"

"…"

 _Wait_ , Ben signed to them, _I've got a better idea._

* * *

"This is not what I think of when I think exciting, Benjamin," Felix complained, "How old are you again?"

Round and round the merry-go-round went as the park began to fill up with pedestrians, parents taking their pets for walks and watching children play by the fountain. Felix and Lyra sat in one of the carriages as Ben and Bridgette shared a horse in front and Marinette and Adrien shared another behind them. "Oh, yeah," Victor fist-pumped the air as he rode on his own horse, "seventh wheel forever!"

 _He's enjoying this?_

"Cheer up," Lyra poked his cheek, "we get to finally relax after thousands of years of fighting."

"We weren't fighting for that long."

"From ancient Egypt to modern day America. That's a long run for a band of superheroes."

"You're such an intelligent beauty."

"Aw, and I was just about to say the same thing."

 _Oh, brother. Speaking of which._

He glanced over at Adrien, who was laughing away with Marinette at some joke she'd told him. He assumed his brother hadn't noticed how his arms had wrapped around her waist, or how she was leaning back on him. He wasn't about to spoil their fun, either.

 _Now they can finally start to act more casually around each other, knowing they're Chat Noir and Ladybug without the masks on. This'll be a good step forward for Adrien, socially and…romantically. Goodness, this is weird. For the longest time I was afraid the only girl he'd ever think of dating was…Chloe?_

She stood at the entrance of the park, watching them ride along. Then she ran off without a word.

"…Lyra," he stood, "there's something I have to check on."

 **Uh oh, looks like a certain Bourgeois has caught our lucky duo spending some VERY close time together and isn't too happy. What can Felix do when he finds her? You're just gonna have to wait to find out. And since there aren't too many chapters left in this story I've decided to post the rest today, Monday November 01, so that I can start on the next story faster! I know, I'm very impatient, but since the story's already done, I've decided that by the end of today the entire story will be up. A special treat, late to Halloween, just for you guys ;)**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	38. Chloe Gives a Good Old Cry

"Crying doesn't suit you, Chloe Bourgeois."

Felix had found her sitting in the empty school courtyard, curled up behind one of the columns and hiding her face behind her knees. She didn't bother to look up as he crouched beside her. "I know you know I'm here. You're not that stupid."

"Yes," she whimpered, "yes I am."

"Oh?"

She finally lifted her head up, her cheeks stained with tears. "Don't act like you don't know, dummy," she shot him a dirty look, "I saw him on the merry-go-round, riding with…with…with _her_. Laughing with her, like he used to laugh with me."

"You've both grown up, Chloe. We all have."

"So what? He's outgrown me? I…he…obviously he has," she sniffled, "seeing how happy he is with her…I'm nothing but a rag now."

"A dramatic rag at that-?"

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. The first hug they'd shared in over a decade. After a silent moment he placed his hand son her back as she broke down. "Chloe?"

"I-It's not fair," she spoke right into his ear, "I-I've been his best f-friend forever, so w-why…w-why did he c-choose _her_?!"

 _Because you're annoying, full of yourself, prideful, rude, mean, a bully, and can't remember which country invented sushi?_

"I-If I can't have A-Adrien, w-who will want me?"

"Don't you mean who will _you_ want? Besides, I'm sure there are plenty of boys out there who only dream of being with Chloe Bourgeois."

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked at him. "R-Really?"

"Of course. Don't tell me you actually thought Adrien was the only possibility?"

"Well, n-no," she averted her gaze, "I know there are others who have crushes on me, b-but…Adrien is the one who takes my side all the time."

"All the time?"

"Like, ninety-nine percent of the time."

"And there's your problem," he stood up and turned away from her, "the reason you'll never be able to move on."

"Hold on," she rose to her feet, "what are you talking about?"

"Chloe, I've known you since we were children," he didn't look back, "and I've always known how strong, willing and capable you were, are and will be. Your problem lies in your attitude around other people, and if you ever hope to find the one for you, you're going to have to chance, just as we have."

"Adrien hasn't changed."

 _But he has._

"Then what about me?" He finally turned back to her. "If I have to be friendlier, then so do you."

She crossed her arms. "You are _terrible_ at making people feel better."

"I'm not trying to make you feel better, I'm trying to get through that thick skull of yours. Adrien has made his choice, and I for one agree with it. Marinette is a brave, kind and enthusiastic girl, someone he deserves. You want to prove me wrong?" He walked away, back to the stairs of the school.

"Then make a change."

 _I don't know if anything I said will matter by tomorrow_ , he thought as he returned to the park entrance, _but it's nice to be able to get all that off my chest._

"There you are," Lyra waved to him as she and the others hopped off the merry-go-round, "what happened? Did you see an old friend?"

"…Yeah," he sighed, "something like that. Where to now?"

"Actually," Adrien rubbed the back of his head, "Marinette wanted to show me the view from her balcony…um…"

"Its fine," Bridgette wrapped an arm through Ben and Victor's, "we're going to go to the Eiffel Tower. We'll meet up later, okay?"

"Okay!" He and Marinette ran off to her family's bakery. "See you later, Felix!"

"How exciting," Lyra walked arm in arm with Felix to the bridge across the waters, "to be able to see the Eiffel Tower. We didn't really have a chance last time we were here, so you'll have to show me every inch of it."

"Hey," Victor said as they started across the bridge, "isn't that Chloe? What's she doing over there?"

Chloe stood beside the school, watching Marinette and Adrien laughing and chattering on the balcony of the Dupain-Cheng apartment. She noticed Felix and the others staring and briskly walked down the road towards the Bourgeois Hotel. "Odd," Victor noted, "maybe she's feeling a bit left out."

 _Which could be the right motivation to change on her part. Hopefully…_

* * *

"Wonderful," Bridgette spun around in front of the bus they'd taken to their destination, "now we're here just to enjoy everything about the tower!"

The Eiffel Tower stood as proudly as it had at Lyra's musical concert a couple months ago, only now there was no stage, people instead wandering about taking photos. "I'd rather not go up, if it's alright with you guys," Bridgette leaned against Ben, "I'm so tired of being so high up. After possessed Marinette took us into the clouds I swore I'd stick to the ground for as long as I could."

"Hey, guys, over here," Victor waved them over to a tall guy with a bun of hair and black jacket over tight pants, "Theo here says he'll take a group shot for us. I want a photo for the fridge so let's go, go, go!"

 _Easy, Victor_ , Ben signed with a smile, _we're not all athletes._

"Pfft, excuses." He pulled Ben and Bridgette to one side and Felix and Lyra to the other. "Now for the poses." He got to his knees and flexed. "Your turns. Ladies?"

Felix crossed his arms. "I don't pose."

"You're also not a lady. Lyra?"

She whispered into Bridgette's ear, and at the same time they wrapped their arms around Felix and Ben's necks, posing like a couple thugs with guns in their hands. "Ready."

"Alright," Theo put the camera up to his face, "on the count of three, say cheese! One, two-"

 _Is this going to cost us anything?_

"Three!"

"CHEESE!"

"Great," the photo slipped out of the old camera, "here you go." He walked off with a wave as Victor shook the photo dry.

"Ha," they all gazed at the photo, "the perfect shot for a…um, not so perfect but well enough vacation slash world saving time."

 _I suppose I could agree there…hold up…_

"Lyra, why did you give me bunny ears?"

 **Silly Lyra, messing with her boyfriend when he isn't looking. Seriously, though, he's got to loosen up if he's going to be dating the best violinist in America, a title she still carries over from the first story. As for how he dealt with Chloe, I didn't want him to try and cheer her up, because really she needs to see the truth for herself, but I also hope she'll change for the better in the show, so I let that hope mold Felix's attitude.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	39. Getting Familiarly Loopy Vibes Up Here

**~THE NEXT DAY~**

"I don't like this."

"Damma won't be trying to crash us, Bridgette. Do have a little faith in my family's property."

They stood by the private jet beside Adrien and Marinette, their luggage being moved into the back by a couple of security guards. "It's been a tense couple of days," Adrien admitted, "and I'm still surprised father let me out of the house yesterday despite saying I wasn't to leave. I wonder what changed his mind."

 _I don't know_ , Felix thought to himself as he noticed his father standing beside Natalie inside the airport, far away from them, _maybe knowing that I could slip a certain piece of important information if he didn't._

Gabriel Agreste gave him a quick nod before walking away, closely followed by Natalie, who was more than happy to give him a wave goodbye. "Good thing for the security guards," Adrien said, "or I don't think I'd ever be allowed anywhere without Natalie's watchful eyes."

"This is all going far too fast," Marinette sighed as Tikki peeked out from behind her pigtails, "do you really have to leave now?"

"We left a lot of school work when we came here on a whim," Lyra said, "so yes, unfortunately we have to get home before we're too behind the rest of our classes."

We'll stay longer next time, Ben signed, and maybe without time travelling or kidnapping.

"That sounds nice."

"Good luck with HawkMoth," Mello and the other Quantic bid farewell to Tikki and Plagg, "we know you'll get him."

"God luck to you, as well, with whatever villains you face."

Adrien pulled Felix in for a long hug. "Thanks for coming so quickly to my rescue, Felix. I know it put you off schedule."

"Don't make me sound to cruel. Whenever you're in trouble just know that I'm not far."

"Uh, you live in America."

"With a private jet."

 _Ride is ready_ , Ben stepped up into the jet, _time to go._

In a few minutes Felix was sitting next to the window, watching Adrien, Marinette and their Kwami waving as the door closed behind them. Lyra slipped into the seat beside him and waved back. "Come on, Felix, give your brother and his girlfriend a wave."

He froze mid-wave. "…Girlfriend?"

"Don't play dumb with me."

 _Why do I never know when I'm playing dumb?_

"Look at them closely," she continued as the plane slowly rolled down the strip, "and tell me that they're not made for each other."

Tikki snuggled against Marinette's cheek as Plagg spun around Adrien's head. His brother placed an arm around Marinette's, and together they returned to the airport, talking and giggling like lifelong friends.

"You still think they may not be a match?"

"…They remind me of my parents."

She stared at him as he leaned back in his chair, the jet reaching into the sky. "Mom used to tell me that when she was our age she stumbled with every sentence around dad. They knew each other from school, and he was the rich kid that every girl vied for the affection of. Out of all the girls, though, he chose mom for her creativity and kindness."

"Like Marinette and Adrien."

"How…magical."

Bridgette squirmed in her seat as the Quantic flew around. "You're sure the jet won't be going haywire on us like last time, Felix?"

"Positive."

"…"

"…"

* * *

 **~FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER~**

"… _The plane is dropping_!"

Felix couldn't deny the tilt of the jet as it began to point downwards. "Are you kidding me," Victor snapped, "what now?!" He tried to unlock the seatbelts his father had installed, but the button wasn't responding. "Hey, what gives?"

 _Seatbelts won't undo_ , Ben signed the obvious as they all tried to open them to no avail, _what's happening?!_

"Guys," Whipp pointed out the window, "we're about to go for a heck of a wild ride!"

And what a heck of a wild ride it was. The jet drifted down into the clouds before spinning, faster and faster until Felix forgot what it meant to be upside-right. Then it loop-de-looped about a dozen times before straightening out and speeding up.

"Urp," Hushh covered his mouth, "I'm going to be so sick right now."

 _He hasn't moved from his floating position at all!_

"This isn't fun," Lyra brushed her braid out of her face, "Felix, call your stupid private jet off before the Quantic lose their lunches!"

"It's not voice activated. I'd have to get to the controls, which isn't possible since we're all stuck to our chairs!"

Another loop-de-loop and then they were dropping again. Bridgette and the Quantic screamed as Lyra gripped Felix's hand so tight that blood couldn't reach his fingers. They would hit the water in a matter of seconds. Five, four, three, two-

 _Not in the mood to swim-_

Then the jet froze, inches from hitting the waves. "…Uh…what?"

"We're…not going into the water?" Victor gazed out his window. "H-Hey, we're evening out again. And rising, ever so slowly."

The jet took to its regular pace through the sky as the seatbelts popped open, allowing the group to breathe easier. "Not funny, Felix," Bridgette moaned, "next time warn us if you're taking your friends for a joyride."

"That wasn't planned. At least, not by me."

"Then who? Your father?"

"Geez," Victor caught all the Quantic as they fell onto his lap in terror, "Mr. Agreste sure has a sick sense of humor."

 _That wasn't a joke_ , Felix realized as the others talked about their recent close encounter with the ocean, _it was a warning meant for me. I know his secret, and he knows I know. If I ever want to be able to return to Paris in one piece, I have to make sure not to tell anyone._

 _Or else._

"Felix?" Lyra looked him in the eyes. "You okay? A little lost in thought?"

"Exactly," he smiled, hoping she'd fall for it, "lost in thought."

"I know you're not smiling on the inside."

"…Oh, look," he pointed out the window, averting his gaze, "a dolphin."

 _I can't tell anyone, not even her._

 **Poor Felix, having to keep such a terrible secret all to himself, not even willing to share it with his Quantic partner of girlfriend. This is what makes him different from Adrien, aside from the obvious differences in their personalities. Adrien always struck me as the brother that was more willing to put trust in others quicker than Felix. Hope that's come across in my writing.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	40. New Hero on the Block

**~THREE DAYS LATER~**

"Eeeeeeeee!"

Bridgette could not have squealed any louder into Felix's ear as they sat at the café by the busiest streets of the city. He dropped his phone onto the table as she spun around in her new blue dress. "I knew he wouldn't wait long to ask her out! Congratulations, Felix, you finally know who your sister-in-law is going to be!"

He was half focused on the photo on his phone, half focused on the skull tattoo still on her shoulder. "They've only just begun to date, Bridgette."

"You really think anything is going to be able to break them apart?"

Adrien had taken a picture of him and Marinette by the Eiffel Tower, leaning on one another as they laughed at their friends Alya and Nino attempting some jazzy dance under the structure. He'd received quite a few texts from his brother, but none as blatant as the last one:

SUPER GIRLFRIEND BY MY SIDE!

 _So it's serious now._

He texted his brother back:

YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO DATE HER. YOU'RE WELCOME.

"Bridgette just texted the good news to me," Lyra walked over in a white blouse and navy skirt, "please tell me you patronized him."

"Of course."

 _Ding._

THANKS FOR THE PERMISSION, BROTHER. DO I HAVE YOUR PERMISSION TO KISS HER?

Felix took to his phone as Lyra and Bridgette sat back down across from him:

NO.

"Benjamin says he has some news to share with us," Bridgette told them as Victor jogged up in beige shorts and a dark green tee, "something about Mythic."

"Oh," Victor winked, "I read about it this morning, too, on that Greek website you showed us the other day. You're gonna love it."

 _Ding._

SMOOCHIE-SMOOCH. SORRY, CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER ALL THE K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

 _Now who's patronizing who?_

Ben finally ran up to the table in a grey sweater and pants, placing his new tablet on the table so everyone could see. _New hero already_ , he signed as an image came up, _and you won't guess who._

It was a picture of Mythic fighting an army of loose bears that had escape from a zoo, and standing between Foinix and Lykanth was someone in a dark green cape and outfit. "Whoa," Lyra smiled, "a new Gigas?"

 _Neo texted me_ , Ben told them as the Quantic poked out of hiding and viewed the screen, _turns out his uncle always had a deep desire to be a superhero._

"You're not serious."

The group shared a good chuckle. "This is great," Bridgette leaned back, "and now that you're all in a good mood I can tell you about Damma."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Uh," she gave an awkward giggle, "so…I should save it for tomorrow, or-"

"What's he done now," Victor asked, "given you an Indian burn in the night? Knotted your hair while you brushed? Called 9-1-1 without any emergencies?"

She shook her head. "Woke up with amnesia."

"…He did _what_?!" All four stood up in shock. "Amnesia?!"

Nodding she held her left pigtail up. "Come on out, Damma." As the tiny black Kwami flew out onto the table between Mello and Whipp she put her hair back. "Tell them what you told me. Don't worry, they won't hurt you."

Damma now had his own unique form, with a pointy tail and red irises glowing out of dark eyes. "They couldn't hurt me even if they tried," he said in a deep voice, "and I don't see why they'd try, considering I've done nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong?" Cheep puffed his chest out. "You nearly destroyed history for your own evil agenda!"

"Gibberish. I've done nothing of the sort, and my partner will defend me."

"Sorry, guys," Bridgette shrugged, "when he appeared in my bedroom the night of our return he told me that he had no memories of what he's been doing, and believes that his master sent him to me to become my partner with the miraculous as a sort of test. And…I told him that I'd love to be a hero."

"Is that so?" Felix was still skeptical, but he had to admit that there was no sign of a lie crossing Damma's expressions. "What is your earliest memory, Damma?"

"Of waking up in Bridgette's room, nothing more. I…can't even remember who my master is," his voice saddened, "or where they are right now…"

"The binding to the miraculous," Felix whispered to Lyra, "it must have wiped his memory clean of…of everything. His mind couldn't process the bond, so it just gave up and made him a blank state. He really doesn't remember a thing about what he's been through."

"That's a good thing, right? We can start anew with him."

A loud scream erupted from behind the buildings, followed by a car flying right over the roofs – and right at their table. "Guys," Victor yelled, " _move_!" He dragged Ben out onto the street as Felix shoved Bridgette and Lyra in through the café door, the Quantic close behind.

 _CRASH!_

The car rolled over onto the table, crushing it, the chairs and Ben's new tablet underneath its bent structure. "That was too close," Lyra gasped for air, "anyone getting some Beast Boss vibes?"

"I WILL CRUSH ALL IN MY WAY!"

"Seriously," Bridgette stood and dusted her dress off, "can't he ever choose a different part of the city to terrorize?" They ran out and over to Victor and Ben. "You two okay?"

 _Lost my tablet_ , Ben pouted, _he's going to pay for a new one._

"Of course he will," she grinned at Damma, "ready to try this partnership out?"

"As soon as you say the words."

"Great," Lyra led them on a sprint towards the road on the other side of the buildings, "looks like the Quantic Squad has a new member. Mello, TUNE UP!"

"Yes," Bridgette cheered, "Damma, BEAST RELEASE!"

The boys switched into their outfits as the group took to the rooftops. "Looking spiffy, Bridgette," Mercury complimented her, "so what's this heroine's super name?"

"I've already come to a decision," she smirked, flexing her arms, "it's time to welcome Dark Dame to the group!"

 _I…will not question anything anymore._

 **Yes, I know, I'm not very create when it comes to costumes and superhero/villain names, but I really didn't want to call her Demon Damsel, and I couldn't call her Daredevil since that's the name of another superhero, so this was what I went with, and I approve this message. But now we get an entire chapter of fighting with her working with the Quantic Squad, so be prepared!**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	41. A Squad Back in Business!

"BEAST BOSS IS HERE FOR ALL THE TREASURES OF THE CITY!"

"Not so fast, villain!"

The large man in the caveman toga looked up to the roofs in time to see Sparrow and the others standing beside a chimney, looking down at him with confident expressions. "How many times do we have to go through this," Mercury sighed, slowly shaking his head, "we win and you lose. Don't tell me you're as thick as to think we get weaker with each encounter?"

"I…HOLD ON," he continued to yell as he counted their heads, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR…WHY ARE THERE FIVE OF YOU NOW? YOU HAVE A NEW PERSON!"

"Impressive," Melodie whistled, "never knew you could count that high."

"You can-no, you _will_ call me Dark Dame," Dark Dame jabbed a finger in his direction, "and it's about time we taught you how to respect your superiors."

"FUNNY GIRL," he snarled, "BUT YOU CANNOT HOPE TO DEFEAT ME! I AM THE BOSS OF BEASTS!"

Dark Dame and the others jumped down to the road, but Sparrow grabbed Kid Mime's shoulder, keeping them on the roof. "Hold on a moment. Something's not right here." He studied Beast Boss through his red goggles.

 _His movements…his speech pattern…calling himself the "boss of the beasts"…this performance is off – because it's nothing more than a performance!_

"Get away from him," Sparrow warned the others as he grabbed a dart, "that's not Beast Boss, it's-"

Beast Boss growled and charged Melodie, who flipped over his head and over beside Mercury. "What are you saying, Sparrow?"

He and Kid Mime leaped down onto the top of streetlights. "Beast Boss is still in prison, which means that this can only be the work of one individual."

Dark Dame reached into her tiny rectangular satchel and pulled out a dark red wand. "If you're talking about who I know you're talking about, then I've got this covered." The tip of the wand glowed, and she drew an image of a wolf's head in the air before her.

 _Never knew Bridgette could draw like that._

Thrusting the wand forward she threw the head at Beast Boss, where it growled and chomped down on his arm. "Ye-ow," he shook it off as it vanished into smoke, "stupid illusion-uh…oops," his voice came out high-pitched, "charades over, I guess."

"Obviously. Give it up," Dark Dame smirked, "Shifter."

Beast Boss laughed before shapeshifting back into the form of a young girl with a bob of bright red hair and a silvery eye mask that matched her silvery bodysuit, baring her legs and arms that were covered in freckles. "Alright, I give," she brought her natural Western accent back, "what could have possibly given me away?"

"Not much," Sparrow admitted, "except that Beast Boss never calls himself the 'boss of the beasts', and you were leaning more so on your left leg when he tends to prefer leaning on his right leg."

She stared at him before bursting into a riot of laughter. "Boy, and I thought _I_ was a nerd! Tell me, do you examine the walking cycle of every villain you meet?"

"Of course."

"How cute," she gave him a wink before beginning to shift, "I'm starting to like you more and more, Sparrow. In fact," she stood as an exact copy of him, down to the tint of the goggles, "I'd like to _flatter_ you some more."

Mercury raced around her, closing in, but as she shifted her gloves into oil she let it splash in his path. He slid out of control and smacked right into Melodie, toppling them over. "Just because I take one form," she painfully reminded them as her gloves returned to normal, "doesn't mean I can't shift specific parts of my body."

Sparrow dim the dart and fired at her chest. "CLOUD!" As it caught on the sleeve of her arm when she shielded herself it exploded into a large cloud that hung over her vision. He took his chance and ran towards her, grabbing his hook shot. If he was going to tie her up he was going to have to move fast before she could remove the cloud-

 _Wham!_

The now frozen cloud hit him in the gut harder than one of Beast Boss' punches, throwing him to the ground as Shifter stood over him, clicking her tongue as the ice shattered. "Again," she spoke in his voice, holding up a glove of ice, "shift. _Anything_. Really, you're supposed to be the smart one, buddy."

He smiled under his mask. "Smart enough to keep you distracted? Kid Mime, Dark Dame!"

Kid Mime tossed a small, invisible trampoline behind Shifter, allowing Dark Dame to jump on and over her. She drew a spiral and tossed it down at her as Sparrow kicked himself out of the way. "What the-?"

The red spiral wrapped around her, and suddenly Sparrow's doppelganger was spinning like a top at top speeds. "Wha, m-m-make t-t-this r-ride s-t-o-o-o-o-op!" She shifted back to normal as the spinning finally stopped, and she stumbled right onto her face as Sparrow wrapped the hook shot around her hands behind her back. "W-W-W-Whoa…"

Melodie and Mercury were clapping beside a truck as Kid Mime and Dark Dame joined them. "Hey," Dark Dame pointed at them, "why didn't you jump in to help?"

Melodie chuckled. "Because you were handling it fine. Shifter had never faced you before, so for your debut fight as Dark Dame you had the upper hand. Well done, fellow Quantic Squad member," she gave her a high-five, "nice to have another girl in the group."

"Y-You sure?"

"Oh, come _on_ ," Shifter sighed as Sparrow helped her up, the police driving up the road, "even I know it's a good thing to have more super powered females around…even if you _are_ an enemy."

Citizens slowly made their way out onto the sidewalks. "Go on," Sparrow told her as he handed Shifter over to the police, not wanting to let them know how big his smile under the mask was, "time to introduce yourself, Dark Dame."

She gave him a quick hug before shaking hands with a couple of school girls.

 _…This_ , he thought, _is where we belong…but…still…_

 **And here we are, already at the penultimate chapter of this story. I was happy being able to let Bridgette join the others with her own super powers, because I felt bad leaving her out of all the fights. Now she gets to be part of the Quantic Squad, even if it is with a miraculous. And yes, the amnesia with Damma was a bit of a cop out, but I wanted to let him get along with the others quickly. Besides, who wouldn't be a little bit messed up mind-wise after being force to bind themselves to a tattoo, right? Right?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	42. Emotional Epilogue

**~THAT NIGHT~**

Felix sat in his mansion's library, finishing up _Frankenstein_ as Cheep slept on the table, the fire blazing before them. He put the book down beside him and watched the flames ripple and curl around one another. "…"

 _My mind has been working nonstop since we got home. I won't ever be able to get the image of father and the peacock miraculous holder out of my head, and I don't I'll ever be able to. What happens when I turn on the news one morning to find that they've been arrested? Where will that put Adrien?_

He stood up and walked through the aisles of bookshelves, not bothering to glance at the titles on the spines.

 _I suppose he'd come to stay with me, but I could never take him away from his friends. I'd just have to move back…but then I'd have to leave the Quantic Squad…well, that's fine, since we have Bridgette and the amnesiac Damma now. But…_

He peeked out at Cheep, who continued to sleep, resting on his wings as the light of the fire made him glow.

 _I couldn't take Cheep away from the others. If father is arrested, and I return to take care of Adrien, then…we couldn't be partners anymore…_

Without thinking he pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts, until he came to his brother's name.

 _I could just call him up and tell him everything, guide him to the elevator and let him know the truth. He and Marinette could have him arrested by tomorrow morning…Ladybug and Chat Noir could defeat HawkMoth by the end of the week…_

He thumb hovered over the call button, waiting to be pressed. Waiting to reveal everything he'd learned on his travels to Paris. He looked intensely at the button.

Then he slipped the phone back into his pocket, and leaned against the bookshelf. His breath came out in short spurts as he calmed the racing of his heartbeat.

 _I can't do it._

He slowly returned to the chair in front of the fire and tried his best to relax.

 _If I call then I put him in danger. I'll put everyone in danger. This isn't my fight, this is Ladybug and Chat Noir's. I can't keep interfering. The Quantic Squad has its own fight here in our city. We belong to different battle fields._

Cheep murmured in his dreams. Felix didn't want to wake him, so he gently picked him up and put the fire out before leaving the library and heading for his room.

 _The last thing I want to do is break apart our family any more than it already is. My relationship with father has always been strained since mother…well, we haven't gotten along since. If I call and he finds out, I'll only be causing more trouble._

He placed Cheep in his gold birdcage and quickly got ready, and in a matter of minutes he was sliding under the covers and into his real bed. With the lights off he could watch the moon gleam in the dark sky, stars twinkling in an array of constellations.

 _Not even Lyra can know…I used to be fine keeping secrets, but now…why does it feel so insanely stomach churning? Curse how kind I've become._

 _Ding._

He grabbed his phone off the coffee table and read Lyra's text:

I SENSE UNREST IN YOU.

 _Seriously, is she psychic or not?_

He texted her back:

FINE. JUST TIRED. WE'LL TALK MORE TOMORROW.

 _Ding._

ALRIGHT. GOOD NIGHT, LOVE.

"…"

 _I need to sleep_ , he closed his eyes, _and hope that I'm not plagued by nightmares._

* * *

"…M-Mother?"

It was a dream and he knew it. His dreams always felt warm and it was always day, no matter what mood he was in when he took to slumber. He was now in his mother's bedroom, light streaming through the cream curtains as she sat on her queen sized bed, draped by fine blue lace. She turned to him in her favourite pink blouse, blonde hair in a pigtail as she rubbed a tiny Adrien's head, who laid on her lap. "Hello, Felix."

His younger brother was deep in sleep as he rounded the bed and stood in front of her, watching her rub the bangs out of his closed eyes. "He would always come in here," he reminisced, "to spend time with you while I studied with father."

She smiled. "It's was his best hiding spot whenever Chloe wanted to play hide-and-chase. She was too shy to come into my room."

"Too bad she became such a diva-"

"Please, Felix," she reached out to him, "don't speak ill of her."

 _She's speaking in past tense. She knows she's not really here…but_ , he held her outstretched hand, clinging to her warmth, _I wish it was real._

"Something's bothering you," she looked deep into his eyes, "I can always tell."

"…You don't really believe that father could be HawkMoth, do you?"

"What do the facts tell you?"

"That you married a criminal."

"No," she pulled him onto the bed beside her and placed his head on her shoulder, letting him listen to Adrien lightly snore, "they tell you that I married a caring, protective, stubbornly business-like man that loves you two more than anything in the world, even if it means he has to threaten you to keep you out of harm's way."

"It isn't right."

"I'm not saying it is." She began to run her fingers through his hair. "He's doing terrible things, but…did you ask him why?"

"No…I sort of just accused him of being HawkMoth and left it at that."

"Then if you're not going to go back," she looked back into his eyes, "stay and learn. Learn why he's doing this. You can still talk to him. You can find out the truth."

"…I will," he averted his gaze as the room became blindingly bright, "I promise."

"Thank you, Felix."

* * *

 **~THE NEXT MORNING~**

Felix sat up, feeling fresh and renewed as he gazed out the window. It hadn't been real, but…

I can still take her advice, he looked to his phone, and I can still make even the tiniest difference. For us. For her.

He picked the phone up, found the contact and rung it up.

 _Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring-_

"…Hello?"

"..."

"Felix?"

"..."

"Why did you call me-"

 _Click._

Felix slammed the phone back down on the table, snapping Cheep awake. He stared out the window and took a deep breath.

 _In time..._

 **END**

 **And so the story is completed! Thanks to all of you for staying and reading for so long, and I do hope that this was as exciting for you as it was for me! Now that Felix knows the truth about his father, and how the Peacock Miraculous holder is connected to him, the time for actions has come. Be on the lookout for the fourth and final story in the series, where all will be revealed!**

 **Thanks for reading, and until the next story!**


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